Jie Zhu

Jie Zhu has extensive work experience in the field of biosciences. Starting in 2012, Jie worked as a Graduate student at the University of California, Riverside. During this time, they focused on engineering volatile short and medium chain ester synthesis in microbial cell factories. They developed a rapid screening assay for alcohol acetyl/acyltransferase activity, characterized the localization and trafficking mechanisms of ester synthase in S. cerevisiae, and improved ester production in the same organism. Jie also controlled local substrate concentrations and enzyme kinetics through designed intermolecular interactions and introduced new substrate-enzyme interactions via enzyme-DNA nanostructures. They also tuned enzyme kinetics through designing substrates and DNA binding interaction via AutoDock.

In 2017, Jie joined Amyris as a Summer Internship, gaining further experience in the industry. Later that year, they joined Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. as an Organism Engineer. In this role, Jie worked until 2020, focusing on various business development and consultancy projects.

In 2020, Jie began working at Bota Biosciences in R&D and BD. The end date for this role is not provided, indicating that Jie is currently employed at Bota Biosciences.

Jie Zhu obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology/Biological Sciences, General from East China University of Science and Technology in 2012. Subsequently, from 2012 to 2014, Jie Zhu pursued a Master's degree in Biochemistry at the University of California, Riverside. Continuing their education at the same institution, Jie Zhu then completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 2012 to 2017. Additionally, Jie Zhu has obtained two additional certifications: an Advanced course bioprocess design from Delft University of Technology in November 2022 and a Certificate in Business Analytics from Harvard Business School Online in August 2020.