Alec Taylor

Funded under the Ev and Theresa Menzel Scholarship, Alec obtained his B.Sc. in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Colorado State University. Having started undergraduate research his sophomore year, he was awarded the Black/African American Cultural Center’s in Pursuit of Excellence award, the Walter Scott Jr. College of Engineering Research Excellence Award, and High Honors at the Celebrating Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium for his work with Dr. Christie Peebles in optimizing agrobacterium mediated transformation in sorghum. Post-graduation, Alec Joined Dr. John Mckay's lab, where he was introduced to the science of genomics while creating tools and techniques for automated phenotyping of genetically distinct varieties of maize and sorghum. While interning at the Max Planck Institute of Developmental Biology, under the leadership of Dr. Detlef Wiegel, Alec was introduced to the concept of genetic knockdown using CRISPR-Cas systems. He has continued that line of research as a Ph.D. student in Dr. Enoch Yeung’s lab, where his interests lie in the intersection of Control Theory and Synthetic Biology, explicitly looking at CRISPR and supercoiling-based control schemes within microorganisms. Eventually, Alec intends to apply the theoretical and practical skills he has developed within eukaryotic systems.