Ka-Yiu San named fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science

Ka-Yiu San

Rice University bioengineer Ka-Yiu San has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

Fellows of the association are elected by their peers, and fewer than 1 percent of its members are elected each year. The association selected 401 members this year for their distinguished efforts to advance science or scientific applications.

San, the E.D. Butcher Professor of Bioengineering and a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was recognized for his contributions to the field of metabolic engineering, particularly for new methods to control pathways, cofactor engineering and to engineer the production of valuable compounds.

San earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Rice in 1978. After finishing his Ph.D. degree at CalTech, he joined the faculty at Rice in 1984. San works primarily with Escherichia coli bacteria, using recombinant DNA technology to improve cellular activities and advance such products as renewable fuel from plants, succinic acid from soybeans and the environmentally friendly production of drugs. He is also co-leading a study of the stem cells in tumors that relapse in children with brain cancer.