Person - Engineer Joshua Elmore

Dr. Joshua Elmore is a Chemical Engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Georgia in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry studying the mechanisms of CRISPR/Cas microbial immune systems in hyperthermophilic Archaea. He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he was as a member of the Agile BioFoundry (ABF). While there he worked to develop tools to accelerate bacterial genome engineering, design novel small molecule biosensors, and discover novel metabolic pathways. He applied each of these developments towards engineering bacteria for production of value-added chemicals.   

Dr. Elmore’s current research utilizes a combination of synthetic biology, systems biology, and microbial genetics to develop genetic tools for non-model organisms, identify novel metabolic pathways, and engineer microbes for societally beneficial functions. His research aims to understand how bacteria sense and respond to complex environments (e.g., plant rhizospheres, mixed waste streams), and use this information to guide engineering efforts that enhance existing functions (e.g., plant growth promotion), add new-to-nature functions, and prevent uncontrolled spread in the environment.