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INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Laura Torrente-Murciano * Chemical and Biological

Engineering, Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Jennifer B. Dunn * Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering,

University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA Panagiotis D. Christofides * Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley,

CA, USA Jay D. Keasling * Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA Jay D. Keasling * California Institute of Quantitative Biosciences (QB3),

University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA Jay D. Keasling * Division of Biological Systems and Engineering, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA Jay D.

Keasling * Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA, USA Jay D. Keasling * Center for Biosustainability, Danish Technical University, Lyngby, Denmark Jay D. Keasling * Center for Synthetic

Biochemistry, Shenzhen Institutes for Advanced Technologies, Shenzhen, China Jay D. Keasling * Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA Sharon C.

Glotzer * Metabolic and Biomolecular Engineering National Research Laboratory, Systems Metabolic Engineering and Systems Healthcare Cross-Generation Collaborative Laboratory, Department of

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 four), BioProcess Engineering Research Center, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea Sang Yup Lee

* Laboratory for Chemical Technology, Department of Materials, Textiles and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Kevin M. Van Geem

* Chemical Process Development, Global Product Development and Supply, Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, NJ, USA Jean Tom * State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, R&D Center of

Membrane Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, Panjin Institute of Industrial Technology, Liaoning Key Laboratory of Chemical Additive Synthesis and Separation, Dalian

University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning, China Gaohong He Authors * Laura Torrente-Murciano View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jennifer

B. Dunn View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Panagiotis D. Christofides View author publications You can also search for this author

inPubMed Google Scholar * Jay D. Keasling View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Sharon C. Glotzer View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Sang Yup Lee View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Kevin M. Van Geem View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jean Tom View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Gaohong He View

author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHORS Correspondence to Laura Torrente-Murciano, Jennifer B. Dunn, Panagiotis D. Christofides,

Jay D. Keasling, Sharon C. Glotzer, Sang Yup Lee, Kevin M. Van Geem, Jean Tom or Gaohong He. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS J.D.K. has financial interests in Amyris, Ansa

Biotechnologies, Apertor Pharma, Berkeley Yeast, BioMia, Cyklos Materials, Demetrix, Lygos, Napigen, ResVita Bio, and Zero Acre Farms. L.T.-M., J.B.D., P.D.C., S.C.G., S.Y.L., K.M.V.G., J.T.

and G.H. declare no competing interests. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Torrente-Murciano, L., Dunn, J.B., Christofides, P.D. _et al._

The forefront of chemical engineering research. _Nat Chem Eng_ 1, 18–27 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44286-023-00017-x Download citation * Published: 11 January 2024 * Issue Date:

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