Meet Dong Xie, laureate of the SPS Junior’Innov Open Call

Dong is from China. He graduated in 2021 from the Zhejiang University of Technology (Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China) and then, from 2021 to 2024, he pursued a PhD at I2BC (Institute of Integrative Biology of the Cell) under the supervision of Thierry Meinnel. 

Tell us shortly about your project and why it is innovative

“Photosynthesis captures carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air using Rubisco. Boosting Rubisco’s performance could significantly increase crop yields and help meet growing demands for food, sustainable materials, and biofuels. This project aims to improve Rubisco’s performance in heterogeneous systems through protein engineering.”

What motivated you to apply to the Junior’Innov open call?

“I applied to the Junior’Innov open call since my project addresses a critical global challenge: improving Rubisco efficiency to enhance biological CO₂ assimilation. The program’s focus on supporting bold and innovative ideas aligns perfectly with my goal of uncovering how specific site regulate Rubisco’s performance. Junior’Innov offers not only financial support, but also a collaborative environment that can accelerate the scientific and translational impact of this research.”

How did Junior’Innov impact your project and which objectives were you able to reach thanks to it?

“Junior’Innov had a decisive impact on my project by enabling the experimental validation steps that would otherwise have been difficult to initiate at an early stage. With this support, I was able to establish the necessary molecular biology tools and collect preliminary data. These achievements laid a solid foundation for the subsequent phase of engineering more efficient Rubisco variants and strengthened the feasibility of my research direction.”

What will be the future of your project after the end of the Junior’Innov funding?

“Following the conclusion of the Junior’Innov grant, I plan to expand the project to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of engineered Rubisco variants and incorporate the most promising ones into selected engineered strains. This next phase will allow us to directly assess how modified Rubisco improves cellular CO₂ assimilation and overall metabolic performance. Next, I will also seek additional funding (through international grants, collaborative programs, or biotechnology innovation calls) to scale up the biochemical characterization and explore potential applications in carbon-capture platforms. Ultimately, the project aims to generate robust, high-performance Rubisco variants that could contribute to both synthetic biology research and long-term strategies to mitigate atmospheric CO₂.”