Yu Research Group
We study how chemicals interact with microbes in natural, engineered, and host-associated ecosystems, and how these processes affect water and soil quality, biodiversity, food safety, and public health.
Confronting Pressing Environmental Challenges
The proliferation of anthropogenic chemicals, declining water quality, and biodiversity loss are among the most urgent environmental challenges of our time. In response, our group works at the interface of environmental chemistry, microbiology, and biotechnology to study the fate and occurrence of chemicals, with a particular focus on biotransformation processes. We combine advanced analytical tools (e.g., high-resolution mass spectrometry), meta-omics sequencing, molecular microbiology, and biochemical approaches to investigate chemical–microbe interactions and to identify the genes and enzymes that drive these reactions. Building on this fundamental knowledge, we aim to develop a framework for understanding how human perturbations affect microbial biodiversity, water quality, food safety, and public health. Ultimately, our goal is to design sustainable solutions, ranging from environmentally benign chemicals to novel bioremediation strategies, next-generation biocatalysts, and biosensors, for contaminants detection, waste removal, and resource recovery.