Wen Shan YEW

Affiliations

• Head, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS.
• Assistant Dean (Graduate Studies), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS.
• Deputy Director and Principal Investigator, NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI).
• Deputy Director and Research Director, Synthetic Biology Translational Research Programme (SynBio TRP)
• Director, HH@NUS SINERGY Laboratory.
• Ex-Officio Member, NUS Medicine Industry Advisory Board for Non-Clinical Post-Graduate Courses.
• Technical Member, Singapore Consortium for Synthetic Biology (SINERGY).
• Supervisor, NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering Programme (ISEP).
• Member, Singapore Food Agency (SFA) Novel Food Safety Expert Working Group
• President, Singapore Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SSBMB)
• Council Member, Singapore National Academy of Science (SNAS).
• Council Member, Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists (FAOBMB)

Biography

Wen Shan YEW is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry, and Assistant Dean (Graduate Studies) at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS). His research is centered on expanding the multi-faceted interface between enzymology and biological chemistry. Specifically, his research focuses on protein engineering and biocatalysis, with an emphasis on using structural and mechanistic enzymological knowledge to develop therapeutics and translational solutions.
He is Deputy Director and Principal Investigator at the Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI). He is also the Director of the HH@NUS SINERGY Laboratory and President of the Singapore Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SSBMB). He is an editor and editorial board member for numerous biotechnology journals. He has received various Faculty and University awards for excellence in teaching, including Educator of the Year Award from NUS Medicine. His research is closely aligned with industrial needs and solutions, and industry collaborators include Agilent Technologies, Merck, Illumina, Cimelia Resource Recovery, MeTech, Hua Hao Chemicals, Thermofisher Scientific, Panasonic, Singer Instruments, Natural Trace, Nestle, Vivance and Wilmar International.

Professional Appointments

• Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS (2015 – Present)
• Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS (2007 – 2015)
• Assistant Professor of Biological and Medical Science, Division of Engineering, Science and Technology, University of New South Wales Asia, Singapore (2007)
• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA (2004 – 2006)
• Herbert E. Carter Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA (2002 – 2003)
• A*STAR International Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA (2002 – 2003)

Education

• Ph.D. Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA (2004)
• M.S., Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA (2002)
• B.Sc., Biochemistry, National University of Singapore (1999)

Research Interest

As a continuation and elaboration of my interests in enzymology, my current and future research is centered on expanding the multi-faceted interface between enzymology, biological chemistry and synthetic biology, an area I term as “synthetic enzymology”. In particular, my research is focused on the use of structural and mechanistic enzymological knowledge for protein engineering (exploring, defining and modulating substrate specificities), biocatalysis, biotransformation, therapeutic development (against metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, cancer and ageing) and bioremediation (towards urban sustainability and planetary health). My research is closely aligned with industrial needs and solutions, and industry collaborators include Agilent Technologies, Merck, Illumina, Cimelia Resource Recovery, MeTech, Hua Hao Chemicals, Thermofisher Scientific, Panasonic, Singer Instruments, Natural Trace, Nestle, Vivance and Wilmar International.

Current Research Projects

Current research interest focuses on protein engineering and biocatalysis, with emphasis on using structural and mechanistic enzymological knowledge to develop therapeutics. We are involved in the following research areas:

1. Defining Synthetic Alkaloid Enzymology as an enabling platform for the Construction of Next-Generation Synthetic Biology solutions for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) production.

1. Using Synthetic Cannabinoid Enzymology to discover and develop novel cannabinoid-based therapeutic biomolecules, in the areas of cancer, metabolic diseases, infectious diseases and aging.
2. Using Synthetic Lixiviant Enzymology for Biomining of Electronic Wastes for Environmental Sustainability and planetary health.
3. Using Precision Fermentation in the sustainable bioproduction of macronutrients and micronutrients for human health.
4. Using Reimagined Oleobiochemistry in the advanced biomanufacturing of oleobiochemicals for the Bioeconomy.

Major research interests can be classified as follows:

1. Rational design and directed evolution of enzymatic activities.
2. Drug design and therapeutics against infectious diseases, cancer and aging.
3. Synthetic Enzymology for biomedical and bioremediation applications.
4. Deciphering enzyme specificity.
5. Mechanistic enzymology of enzymes of pharmaceutical importance.
6. Discovery of new enzymatic functions.

Selected Publications

1. Ling, L.H., Chua, E.T., Xue, B., Jia, X., Chow, J.Y., Yang, R.L., Lim, Y.P., Han, P., Xie, H., Tan, C.H., Nguyen, G.K.T., and Yew, W. S. (2025) Sustainable Biosynthesis of Diverse Fatty Acid Esters of Hydroxy Fatty Acids (FAHFAs) for Industrial Production. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 13, 7, 2830-2844; https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c08793.
2. Chua, J.P.S., Rajasabhai, R., Teo, W.Z., Xue, B., and Yew, W.S. (2024) Engineering a Metal Reductase for the Bioremediation of Anthropogenic Electronic Wastes: From Hg(II) to Au(III) and Ag(I) Enzymatic Reduction. JACS Au ; https://doi.org/10.1021/jacsau.4c00297.
3. Lim, C.K., Yeoh, J.W., Kunartama, A.A., Yew, W.S., and Poh, C.L. (2023) A biological camera that captures and stores images directly into DNA. Nature Commun. 14, 3921; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38876-w.
4. Lim, K.J.H., Hartono, Y.D., Xue, B., Go, M.K., Fan, H., and Yew, W.S. (2022) Structure-Guided Engineering of Prenyltransferase NphB for High-Yield and Regioselective Cannabinoid Production. ACS Catalysis 12 (8), 4628–4639. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.2c00786.
5. Wong, G., Lim, L.R., Tan, Y.Q., Go, M.K., Bell, D.J., Freemont, P.S., and Yew, W.S. (2022) Reconstituting the complete biosynthesis of D-lysergic acid in yeast. Nature Commun. 13, 712. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28386-6.
6. Chow, J.Y., Choo, K.L.S., Lim, Y.P., Ling, L.H., Nguyen, K.T.G., Xue, B., Chua, N.H., and Yew, W.S. (2021) Scalable workflow for green manufacturing: discovery of bacterial lipases for biodiesel production. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 9 (40), 13450-13459. DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c03721.
7. Liow, L.T., Go, M.K., Chang, M.W., and Yew, W.S. (2020) Toolkit Development for Cyanogenic and Gold Biorecovery Chassis Chromobacterium violaceum. ACS Synth Biol. 9(4), 953-961. March 11. doi: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00064.
8. Hillson, N., et. al. Yew, W.S., Yuan, Y., Zhao, H., and Freemont, P.S. (2019) Building a Global Alliance of Biofoundries. Nature Commun. 10(1):2040. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10079-2.
9. Lim, Y.P., Go, M.K., Raida, M., Inoue, T., Wenk, M.R., Keasling, J.D., Chang, M.W., and Yew, W.S. (2018) Synthetic Enzymology and the Fountain of Youth: Repurposing Biology for Longevity. ACS Omega 3(9): 11050-11061. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.8b01620.
10. Ho, C.L., Tan, H.Q., Chua, K.J., Kang, A., Lim, K.H., Ling, K.L., Yew, W.S., Lee, Y.S., Thiery, J.P., and Chang, M.W. (2018) Engineered commensal microbes for diet-mediated colorectal-cancer chemoprevention. Nature Biomedical Engineering. 2:27-37.