CAS Key Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, RCEES

Key Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology (KLEB), formerly known as Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, is one of the affiliates of Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), CAS. Originally founded in 1995, KLEB was formally established as one of the key labs of CAS on April 26, 2013. Currently, KLEB has a laboratory area of 1200 square meters at RCEES, and another 4500 square meters at its Changping research base.

Profs. Aijie Wang and Guoqiang Zhuang serve as the director and deputy director of KLEB, respectively. The director and the deputy director of the academic committee of KLEB are academicians Le Kang and Nanqi Ren, respectively. KLEB has 33 staffs, which includes 11 professors, 8 associate professors, 12 assistant professors and 2 supportive personnel. Members of the KLEB have received National Outstanding Youth Science Fund Award, National Excellent Young Scientist Fund Award and the Hundred Talent program by CAS. The KLEB has three research units and eight scientific research supporting platform. The laboratory has maintained an active international exchanges and cooperation with oversea research institutions and scientists. Currently, there are 10 visiting professors at the KLEB, among which six are academicians in their respective countries.

The KLEB is dedicated to research that is at the frontier of science and technology, and the ones that meet the demand of the country. Focusing on the biological detection and diagnosis of environmental pollution, biological processes and effects and the principles of biological control of environmental pollution, the KLEB carries out research that will repair and reduce the environmental pollution using biotechnology based methods. Meanwhile, in order to achieve scientific breakthrough and applicable technologies, the KLEB also emphasizes the combination of theory, technology and application.

Directors of the KLEB

Director: Professor Aijie Wang

Dr. Aijie Wang serves as the executive director on the anaerobic professional management committee of International Water Association (IWA). She is a part-time professor at the University of Oklahoma, and has been editors of three international journals such as Applied Environ. Microbiol. She is the executive editor of J. Environ. Analytical Toxicology, and the editor of Sustainable Energy. She has received National Outstanding Youth Science Fund Award, and been appointed by the Ministry of Education as Cheung Kong Scholars Professor. She has been awarded three National Science and Technology Award, eight provincial and ministerial ones. She has published more than 130 papers and her H Index is 21. She has authored three monographs which was published by Science Press. She also has been authorized 20 national invention patents.

Deputy Director: Professor Guoqiang Zhuang

His research direction includes 1) Functional microbial ecology: the use of biosensor and molecular ecological studies on material circulation process of functional microbial ecology and its mechanism of action; 2) Ammonia oxidizing bacteria quorum sensing research: Study of ammonia oxidizing bacteria group mechanism and in the nitrogen transformation of important ecological function. At present, his research is supported by NSFC, 863 project and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Over the past five years, the research group led by Professor Zhuang published more than 60 articles and filed more than twenty patent applications.

Academic Committee

Chair: Professor Le Kang, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Professor Le Kang is the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the World Academy of Sciences, recipient of National Outstanding Youth fund award, a top-tier expert of the national BaiQianWan talent project. He is the General Director of the Animal Research Institute and the Beijing Institute of Life Science of CAS. He used insects as model system to carry out ecological genomics, cold resistance and chemical ecology and behavioral research. He is on the Executive Committee of the international society of insects, and is the editor in chief of Insect Science, deputy editor of Protein & Cell and editor of the Journal of Insect Physiology. Professor Le Kang was elected as the Chair of the Entomological Society of China in 2008, and has been elected as executive director of international society of insects in 2009. He has been awarded an honorable Doctor degree by the University of Nebraska and won the HeLiangHeli life science and technology progress award. In 2013, he won the distinguished scientist award issued by the Entomological Society of the American. Professor Le Kang has published more than400 papers in international journals, including Science.

Vice Chair: Professor Nanqi Ren, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering

Professor Nanqi Ren is an academician of the Chinese Academy of engineering. He is the recipient of the National Outstanding Youth Science Fund Award and appointed by the Ministry of Education as Cheung Kong Scholars Professor. Currently, he serves as the Vice Chancellor of HIT and the Director of State Key Lab of Urban Water Resources and Environment. Professor Ren is the Leading scientist of a national innovation group “the principles and technologies of urban water quality transformation”. He serves as the member of the Academic Degree Commission of the State Council, the member of Resources and the Environment and Earth Sciences council of the Ministry of Education, fellow of the International Water Association (IWA)), vice chairman of environmental engineering education guidance committee of Ministry of Education, deputy director of the microbiology and environmental microbial Committee of the Chinese Society of Microbiology, vice chairman of the China Institute of Environmental Sciences; vice chairman of China Institute of Energy. His research focused on bioenergy theory and process technology, biological wastewater treatment technology, source and sink of pollutants, transformation principles and removal mechanisms, etc. He has won the second-class State technological invention award once, the second prize national scientific and technological progress twice, provincial and ministerial level awards 11 times. He has published 12 monographs and 300 papers on international journals. He also has granted 28 national patents.

Professor Guoqiang Zhuang obtained his Bachelor and Master degrees in Microbiology from the Department of Biology of Shandong University. He participated the 1994 UNESCO Post-Graduate Course in Microbiology at the Osaka University. In 2001, Professor Zhuang graduated from the Osaka University in Japan and get his PhD degree from the Department of Biotechnology. In 2002, he joined the State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology at the Shandong University. Since 2006, he has been conducting researches at the RCEES. He currently is engaged in researches on microbial resources and environment. Professor Wang obtained her BS degree in biology science in 1995 from Harbin Normal University, and earned her Master and PhD degree in Environmental Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology. She has been teaching in HIT since 1997 and been promoted to full professor in 2005. From 2002 to 2007, she has been on several sabbatical leaves to Michigan State University, University of Oklahoma and the Australian National University, to carry out researches. She has long been engaged in theory and technology researches focusing on pollutant directional biotransformation and resource recovery.