NTU Bio-Tech

DNA is at the center of life. Many studies on life science or development in biotechnology depend largely on unraveling it. Genomic approach thus forms the intersection core among the 3 fields of plant, animal, and microbial biotech in this institute. The microbe in the leaf indicates plant-microbe interactions. The woman head represents the animal and medical fields. The boxes are symbolic for microarray results and represent the bioinformatics. These symbols linked together indicate cross-disciplinary researches that are flourishingly developing in this institute.

Today we interviewed our new faculty, Dr. Shu-Han Yu, who has immuno-oncology, immune modulation, tumor microenvironment, and microbiome professional with 9+ years of academic research experience and 4+ years of industrial experience. She has committed to transforming expertise in translational medicine into non-small-cell lung cancer precision medicine, microbiome profiling, biomarker discovery, characterization, clinical validation, and potential diagnostics.

Today we are very happy to interview the new director of Institute of Biotechnology (IOB), Prof. Mong-Hsun Tsai, to talk about his research journey. Graduated from the Department of Zoology at National Taiwan University (NTU), Prof. Tsai has established solid biology backgrounds. Prof. Tsai then decided to proceed his master at National Tsing Hua University (NTHU). His study mainly focused on radiation and heavy metal (such as arsenic) induced damages in molecular, cellular, and phenotype levels. For Dr. Tsai’s dissertation at National Yang Ming University, he mainly studied health effects of chronic low-dose radiation exposed subjects who lived in Co60-contaminated buildings for more than 10 years in Taiwan. Dr. Tsai stayed in NIH for 4 years and came back to NTU as an assistant professor in 1996. Prof. Tsai has been employing biochips and bioinformatics tools for agriculture applications and to discover specific biomarkers for cancer outcome prediction. 

Our interviewee today is Prof Jen-Chih Chen, driving by his curiosity, he is now an associate professor in the Institute of Biotechnology (IOB), and his research expertise includes plant defense, molecular biology, as well as bioenergy.

From the interview, we can feel that Dr. Chen is full of curiosity. He is interested in all sorts of biological phenomena, and enjoys dissecting them. He may have changed his research focus to animal studies, but through searching and experiencing, he returned to his beloved plant science. He told us to keep on trying new things and new ways, and by doing so, we may be able to find something really surprising. Of course, there are always challenges, and keeping on trying and enriching your knowledge should carry you a long way during your research.

Today we invite Dr. Chi-Te Liu, an associate professor of the Institute of Biotechnology (IOB), to share his journey of research and development. Dr. Liu’s research interests focus on S.E.A, i.e. Symbiosis (Microbe-Plant interactions), Environmental microbiology, and Agricultural biotechnology. The current projects in his lab including (1) development of multifunctional PGPR agents (biofertilizers & biopesticides), (2) exploring the molecular mechanisms of plant-microbe interactions, (3) biodegradation of synthetic plastics, and (4) employing soil-based microbial batteries for sustainable agriculture and energy.Today we invite Dr. Chi-Te Liu, an associate professor of the Institute of Biotechnology (IOB), to share his journey of research and development. Dr. Liu’s research interests focus on S.E.A, i.e. Symbiosis (Microbe-Plant interactions), Environmental microbiology, and Agricultural biotechnology. The current projects in his lab including (1) development of multifunctional PGPR agents (biofertilizers & biopesticides), (2) exploring the molecular mechanisms of plant-microbe interactions, (3) biodegradation of synthetic plastics, and (4) employing soil-based microbial batteries for sustainable agriculture and energy.

Today we invite Dr. Je-Ruei Liu, professor of the Institute of Biotechnology (IOB) and vice dean of College of Bio-Resources and Agriculture, to share his journey of research. With the fast-pace of modern lifestyle, dietary habits are characterized by erratic eating patterns . Malnutrition, unhealthy diet, smoking, stress and so on, are the presentations of unhealthy life lifestyle. Unwanted diseases and afflictions arise from such dietary habits. Obesity is on the rise and has become a chronic problem, along with aging, diabetes, as well as high blood pressure. Another issue in the modern lifestyle is the declining birth rate. More and more people choose to have pets. Yet the number of overweight and obese in our furry family members also is a growing concern. Professor Je-Ruei Liu has been engaged in research on obesity related topics for many years, hoping to apply natural products to delay aging, to reduce pet weight, and to promote healthier diets for our pets.
 

Professor Sung is an expert in SCNT and among the first to report cloned mice using terminally differentiated postmitotic granulocytes, followed by efficient derivation of mouse ntESCs. Her team also cloned cattle and rabbits before.  She excels in embryonic technologies, such as SCNT, pronuclear microinjection, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, blastocyst injection, oocyte and embryo cryopreservation, as well as iPSC technology. Her research interests are embryology, developmental biology, stem cell biology, as well as development of novel animal models to study human diseases including infertility. She is also applying these modern tools to save endangered animals.

Being a professor in both Institute of Biotechnology (IOB) and Institute of Food Sciences and
Technology (FST) at National Taiwan University, Prof Cheng proofs his doubtlessly research
experiences in the areas of microbial bioprocessing, fermentation and biotechnology. His
laboratory currently focusing on four major topics which are bioactivity of medical mushroom,
Wine making and brewing, Development of Senior’s Food, and Biotechnology.

Birds migrate south for winter. Fishes swim to their ideal water current. Unlike animals, plants are not able to move freely forces the plants to adapt to the environment. It is a pleasure to invite Prof. Shih-Shun Lin from the Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology and Virology to talk about gene regulation mechanisms that help the plants to survive from environmental adversity and disease invasion.