10 July 2024 – When new EMBO Associate Member James Liao encounters a tough research challenge, he often finds that shifting focus to a completely different problem refreshes his mind and sparks new ideas. As the President of the research academy Academia Sinica, there are plenty of opportunities to do just that, with the organization home to institutes and research centres that cover a broad spectrum of subjects in the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences.
“In my position, I am constantly connected to incredible and diverse fields of research,” says Liao, whose team has focused on the biochemistry, regulation, and redesign of metabolism and aims to develop innovative carbon fixation methods using plants and microorganisms. “Biology is the primary avenue through which the Earth fixes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. We want to better understand the photosynthetic processes by which plants absorb and release carbon and other greenhouse gases like methane. With this knowledge, we aim to design and engineer new molecular pathways for fixing greenhouse gases and integrate these with microorganisms and other plants to create chemicals, materials, and biofuels. This is a hard problem that requires us to work with organisms’ evolution in a way that allows us to evolve pathways that the organisms can sustain. Ultimately, we hope our work will support global efforts to tackle climate change.”
A fundamental aspect of Liao’s research is a focus not just on individual molecules but on the networks, pathways and systems they form – something he sees as analogous to efforts to connect science at an international level. “EMBO already has a highly productive and important connections with Academia Sinica: as an EMBO Associate Member, one of my ambitions is to further these associations, for instance by initiating a hub for collaboration between researchers in Asia and Europe. My EMBO Membership also opens new opportunities to engage with excellent researchers from around the world, to explore collaborations, and exchange ideas. Taiwan is a wonderful place to visit, both for research and leisure, and I am very much looking forward to deepening connections here with the EMBO communities.”
