Professor John Love

About me:

John Love is Professor of Synthetic Biology at the University of Exeter, which he joined as a lecturer in 2003. John’s research team is diverse and employs a multidisciplinary combination of technologies to investigate a range of questions, including –

• The production of “Fourth Generation” biofuels that can directly substitute for fossil petroleum-based products in modern car and jet engines;
• The biology of the hydrocarbon producing planktonic alga, Botryococcus braunii.
• The integration of algal cultivation platforms for waste-nutrient recycling in the water purification industry;
• AI and machine-guided experimentation to engineer novel functions in bacteria;
• Cell-free genetic systems, and;
• The forensic characterisation of anthropogenic microparticle pollutants since the industrial revolution in NW England.

Industrial engagement and knowledge transfer is a leitmotif of our research; We have close partnerships with several businesses, from local SME’s to multinational companies. John has held a BBSRC Industry Interchange Partnership with Shell where he led the photosynthetic microbial biofuels research programme. He won the Industry Outstanding Impact in Science and Technology R&D Award for his research into innovative optics for flat-panel photobioreactors and the European Biophysics Award at the Società Italiana di Fisica International School of Physicsfor a paper entitled “Perfluorodecalin as an In-VivoMounting Medium”. In 2013, he won the Exeter Impact Award for Outstanding Impact in Technology and was a finalist in the 2014 BBSRC Innovator of the Year Award for the production of retail-grade diesel in bacteria.

Since 2012 John’s laboratory has hosted the Exeter University iGEM team, going from Bronze to silver to four gold medals; in 2017, the team also won Best Environmental Project and Best Applied Design for a Synthetic Biology solution to remediate pollution from legacy of mining in the South West.

Over the last decade, I have developed a unique expertise that fuses skills from academia and industry. This unconventional course meant that I am unable to publish as freely as warranted by the ground-breaking nature of my research; rather I have an unusually large impact within relevant industries, as evidenced by the sources that fund my laboratory, by the number of industry-focused reports and patents that I have authored and by my ability to work productively with large and small companies to solve problems, as a research leader, collaborator and innovator.

Interests:

Synthetic Biology os a multidisciplinary endeavour that aime to rapidly translate cutting edge research into practicsal applications. Our research programm,es reflect that impetus, and include,

• The production of “Fourth Generation” biofuels that can directly substitute for fossil petroleum-based products in modern car and jet engines by bacterial re-coding.
• Machine-guided experimentation to engineer novel functions in bacteria.
• The development and integration of algal cultivation platforms for waste-nutrient recycling in the water purification industry.
• Cell-free genetic systems for field detection of diseases.
• Forensic characterisation of anthropogenic microparticle pollutants and their effects on wellbeing.
• The biology of the hydrocarbon producing planktonic alga, Botryococcus braunii.

We have close partnerships with several businesses, from local SME’s to multinational companies. Please do get in touch (J.Love@Exeter.ac.uk) if you believe that we can help you achieve your goals or simply want more information about what we do.

Qualifications:

1991-1994 PhD Cell & Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh
1986-1990 BSc Biological Sciences, University of St Andrews

Career:

2014-Current Professor of Synthetic Biology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter

2011-2014 Associate Professor in Plant and Industrial Biotechnology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter

2007-2011 Senior Lecturer in Plant Molecular Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter

2003-2007 Lecturer in Developmental Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter

2001-2003 Independent Broodbank Research Fellow, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge

1996-2001 Postdoctoral Research Associate, NASA Specialized Center for Research & Training, North Carolina State University

1995-1996 Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Institute of Cell & Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh