Dr Paul James

Assistant Professor

Department: Applied Sciences

I am interested in combining biochemistry, structural biology, metabolic engineering and structural biology to develop bacteria into programmable cell factories that will act as the buildings metabolism with the HBBE. Much of my research to date has focused on the structural and biochemical characterisation of enzymes from thermophilic sources and has been done in collaboration with industry to help provide better biocatalysts for a range of different processes. In 2013 i was introduced to synthetic biology through the iGEM competition (iGEM) and after moving to the Exeter Microbial Biofuel Group my research focus shifted to look at the domestication of industrially relevant bacteria. This researched relied on strong industrial collaboration and i believe that strong stakeholder engagement is vital and something i hope to continue with the HBBE. My research aims to use a multi 'omic' approach to increase the number of tools we have available for novel industrially relevant bacteria so that we can increase their role as hosts for biotechnological applications. In the HBBE we want to be able to use these bacteria within the 'Living' house to metabolise waste and generate energy and other high value products. One of the elements of the HBBE I am most looking forward to is working with an interdisciplinary team of highly skilled researchers and bringing together a wide range of different technologies to create a new generation of living buildings.

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Biogenic Construction, Gilmour, K., Haystead, J., Karimian, A., Moreland, P., Wang, J., Arnandottin, T., Christgen, B., Rodrigues Corral, J., Guyet, A., Zhang, M., Wipat, A., Mitrani, H., Dade-Robertson, M., Sharma Ghimire, P., Wright, J., James, P., Mwebaza, D., Theodoridoua, M., Bruno, A., Bridgens, B., Sherry, A., Ozkan, D., Agraviador, A., Perry, O., Bagga, M., Alex, A., Hamley-Bennett, C., Justo-Reinoso, I., Gebhard, S., Paine, K., Masoero, E., Ofiteru, I., Wang, C., Eiriksdottir, S., Savas, E., Jones, E., De Nardi, C., Harbottle , M., Reitzer, P., New, R., Bryan, S., Mol, L., Campbell, O., Gilbert, O., Gudnadottir, B., Cuzman, O., Peritto, B. 20 Mar 2024
Biofilm inspired fabrication of functional bacterial cellulose through ex-situ and in-situ approaches, Gilmour, K., Aljannat, M., Markwell, C., James, P., Scott, J., Jiang, Y., Torun, H., Dade-Robertson, M., Zhang, M. 15 Mar 2023, In: Carbohydrate Polymers
Demonstrating the potential of biological self-healing for conservation through the healing masonry prototype, Theodoridoua, M., Mwebaza, D., Agraviador, A., Sherry, A., Zhang, M., Dade-Robertson, M., James, P., Bridgens, B., Morrow, R. 15 Feb 2023, 2nd International Conference on Construction, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, 2023
Healing Masonry: Demonstrating the Potential of Biological Self-healing for Building Conservation, Theodoridou, M., Agraviador, A., Mwebaza, D., Sherry, A., Zhang, M., Dade-Robertson, M., James, P. 15 Apr 2023, BioProtopia, Basel, Switzerland, Birkhauser Verlag Basel
Innovating fire safety with recombinant hydrophobic proteins for textile fire retardancy, Gilmour, K., Arnardottir, T., Scott, J., James, P., Jiang, Y., Dade-Robertson, M., Zhang, M. 1 Nov 2023, In: Microbial Biotechnology
Bio-Futures for Transplanetary Habitats - A Summary and Key Outcomes from the 2022 Symposium, Van Ellen, L., Belling, A., Brandic Lipinska, M., Nerlich, P., Azzopardi, H., Ciardullo, C., Dade-Robertson, M., Holt, A., Hyry, N., James, P., MacCowan, R., Roberts, A., Vermeulen, A., Zhang, M. 18 Sep 2022, 73rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Paris, France, International Astronautical Federation, IAF
Single-Site Mutation Induces Water-Mediated Promiscuity in Lignin Breaking Cytochrome P450_GcoA, Singh, W., Santos, S., Black, G., James, P., Huang, M., Dubey, K. 21 Jun 2022, In: ACS Omega
Healing Masonry prototypes; demonstrating the immune response of masonry materials in the HBBE’s experimental house - the OME, Theodoridoua, M., Agraviador, A., Dade-Robertson, M., Mwebaza, D., Wright, J., Zhang, M., James, P., Sherry, A., Morrow, R., Bridgens, B. 12 Oct 2021, Proceedings of International conference of Construction, Energy, Environment & Sustainability (CEES) 2021 , Coimbra, Portugal, Itecons
A 'Split-Gene' Transketolase From the Hyper-Thermophilic Bacterium Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans: Structure and Biochemical Characterization, James, P., Isupov, M., De Rose, S., Sayer, C., Cole, I., Littlechild, J. 30 Oct 2020, In: Frontiers in Microbiology
Why is it so hard to enact responsible change?: Scientists need to work more closely with other social groups to implement sustainable innovation, Welsh, C., Pike, L., Elliott, J., Bailey, J., Quintin-Baxendale, R., Billington, J., Matousek, A., Matthews, C., Dumitrescu, D., Murphy, J., Hewlett, M., Singleton, C., James, P., Hartley, S., Love, J. 3 Apr 2020, In: EMBO Reports

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Oral presentation: Demonstrating the potential of biological self-healing for conservation through the healing masonry prototype. Presenter: Magdalini Theodoridou. 2023

PGR Supervision

Matthew Rogan Using Synthetic Biology to Engineer an Industrially Relevant Chassis for the Built Environment Start Date: 01/10/2020

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