Weiming was born in Fuzhou, Jiangxi, China. He received his PhD in Engineering Science from University of Oxford in 2024, and completed his Master’s degree and Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Tsinghua University and Tongji University, respectively. His research was focusing on using synthetic biology to modify microbes for carbon-neutrality applications such as CO₂ fixation, H₂ production and waste utilization.

After graduation from Oxford, Weiming joined MIT as a postdoctoral associate in the Stephanopoulos Lab. He is currently working on a Schmidt Science-funded project to optimize engineered Yarrowia lipolytica for enhanced carotenoid production using waste substrates such as acid whey.

 

Selected Publications

[1] Tu, W., Thompson, I.P., Huang, W.E., 2024. Engineering bionanoreactor in bacteria for efficient hydrogen production. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 121(29), e2404958121.

[2] Tu, W., Saeed, H., Huang, W.E., 2024. Rhodopsin‐based light‐harvesting system for sustainable synthetic biology. Microbial Biotechnology, 17(7), e14521.

[3] Tu, W., Xu, J., Thompson, I.P., Huang, W.E., 2023. Engineering artificial photosynthesis based on rhodopsin for CO₂ fixation. Nature Communications, 14, 8012.

[4] Tu, W., Huang, W.E., 2023. Rhodopsin driven microbial CO₂ fixation using synthetic biology design. Environmental Microbiology, 25(126-130).