Accessibility statement

Dr. Benjamin R. Lichman 

Senior Research Fellow

Research


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The Lichman Lab focuses on the discovery, understanding and engineering of plant natural product biosynthesis. Our vision is to harness plant natural product biosynthesis for enzyme discovery, evolutionary analysis and engineering biology; to understand the origins of nature’s chemical diversity; and to catalyse transformative biotechnological solutions for sustainable development.
Plants are capable of producing chemical structures with remarkable complexity and activities. We investigate plant natural products using an interdisciplinary and multi-level approach.

We investigate plant natural products:
- biosynthesis, to reveal the multi-step pathways responsible for their formation
- biocatalysts, to understand and exploit the constituent enzymes
- bioactivities, to discover potential pharmaceuticals and agrichemicals

We explore:
- engineering biology approaches to obtain high-value chemicals from plant pathways
- the evolutionary and genomic origins of plant chemical and metabolic diversity
For more information please visit the Lichman Lab website.

Teaching and scholarship

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My teaching combines core scientific concepts with an emphasis on contemporary scientific developments. This aims to both challenge and enthuse students, and promote independent learning and thinking.

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I offer tutorials on a range topics including synthetic biology and the evolution of enzymes. Tutorials involve a mixture of activities including presentations, literature reviews, debates and business pitches. The tutorials are designed to instill and foster interest in current scientific innovations whilst also aiding the development of a generalised skill set.

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Research conducted in my lab will be under the broad topic of plant specialised metabolism. Projects range from enzyme discovery and characterisation, to genomics and phylogenetics, to biocatalysis and synthetic biology. Goals will be defined at the start of the project, but these are flexible depending on the interests of the student and project progression. Techniques and skills in biochemistry, molecular biology and bioinformatics will be learnt during the project.

Contact details

Dr Benjamin R. Lichman
Senior Research Fellow, Plant Biology
CNAP, Department of Biology
University of York
York
YO10 5DD

Tel: +44 (0)1904 328690

Centre for Novel Agricultural Products