Fong Tian WONG

• 2023 CSP Functional Genomics award
• Hinchley Medal
• BP Chemicals Prize
• Proctor and Gamble Prize
• Institution of Chemical Engineers Books Prize

RESEARCH

Synthetic Biology
Our laboratory explores the intersection of biology and engineering, harnessing biology and natural diversity to drive innovation in biotechnology and drug discovery. We leverage expertise in biochemistry, bioinformatics, enzyme engineering, and genetic engineering, integrating AI-mediated designs with rational engineering approaches to develop novel technologies. We are interested in examining and applying correlations from genes to proteins to products, with a focus on applications in sustainability, natural product discovery, and human health. By harnessing data-driven approaches, automated workflows, and multidisciplinary expertise, we aim to unlock microbial factories' full potential, tackling pressing challenges in these fields.

• Exploring a general multi-pronged activation strategy for natural product discovery in Actinomycetes
  Tay DWP, Tan LL, Heng E, Zulkarnain N, Ching KC, Wibowo M, Chin EJ, Tan ZYQ, Leong CY, Ng VWP, Yang LK, Seow DCS, Lim YW, Koh W, Koduru L, Kanagasundaram Y, Ng SB, Lim YH, Wong FT. (2024).
  Communications Biology, 7(1), 50.
  
  
• Expression and engineering of PET-degrading enzymes from Microbispora, Nonomuraea, and Micromonospora
  Tiong, E., Koo, Y. S., Bi, J., Koduru, L., Koh, W., Lim, Y. H., & Wong, F. T. (2023).
  Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 89(11), e00632-23.
  
  
• A sweeter future: Using protein language models for exploring sweeter brazzein homologs
  Nicholas Chua B, Mei Guo W, Teng Wong H, Siak-Wei Ow D, Leng Ho P, Koh W, Koay A, Wong, F. T. (2023).
  Food Chemistry, 136580.
  
  
• Cost-effective hybrid long-short read assembly delineates alternative GC-rich Streptomyces hosts for natural product discovery
  Heng E, Tan LL, Tay DWP, Lim YH, Yang LK, Seow DCS, Leong CY, Ng V, Ng SB, Kanagasundaram Y, Wong FT, Koduru L. (2023).
  Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology, 8(2), 253-261.
  
  
• Characterization of Cas proteins for CRISPR‐Cas editing in streptomycetes
  Yeo WL, Heng E, Tan LL, Lim YW, Lim YH, Hoon S, Zhao H, Zhang MM, Wong FT. (2019). 
  Biotechnology and bioengineering, 116(9), 2330-2338.
  
  
• CRISPR–Cas9 strategy for activation of silent Streptomyces biosynthetic gene clusters
  Zhang, Mingzi M.*, Fong Tian Wong*, Yajie Wang, Shangwen Luo, Yee Hwee Lim, Elena Heng, Wan Lin Yeo et al.
  Nature chemical biology 13, no. 6 (2017): 607-609.

• Protein Expression Construct and Methods Thereof (US20200095566A1)
  The present invention relates to improved and integrated methods for the characterisation of an interaction site on a target protein that modulates the phenotype of a mammalian cell, such as a phenotype other than death and/or reduced growth. Such methods of the present invention include those to identify a target protein modulates such a phenotype of a mammalian cell, and optionally to characterise an interaction site on said target protein. Such identification and characterisation methods are useful in the development of research tools and/or therapeutics, such protein/peptide or small molecule therapeutics. Accordingly, the present invention also relates to methods of: identification of a ligand, such as a small molecule ligand, that binds to such a target protein; and identification a compound being a candidate modulator of said phenotype of a mammalian cell. The invention further relates to peptides or proteins, or fragments, variants and/or derivatives thereof) comprising certain amino acid sequences, nucleic acids encoding such peptides or proteins and uses of such peptides or proteins or of such nucleic acids.
  
  
• Method of modulating production of secondary metabolites (WO2024025462A1)
  The invention relates to a method of modulating production of a metabolite in an actinomycetes bacterium comprising increasing the expression or activity of the Sporulation and Antibiotic Production Related gene A (SarA, SCO4069) polypeptide to modulate production of the metabolite in the actinomycetes bacterium. In one embodiment, the metabolite is valinomycin, daidzein, fluvirucin, demethyllydicamycin, or TPU-0037 analogues A, C and D.