Patents by Inventor James Clomburg

James Clomburg has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11913049
    Abstract: An engineered microorganism(s) with novel pathways for the conversion of short-chain hydrocarbons to fuels and chemicals (e.g. carboxylic acids, alcohols, hydrocarbons, and their alpha-, beta-, and omega-functionalized derivatives) is described. Key to this approach is the use of hydrocarbon activation enzymes able to overcome the high stability and low reactivity of hydrocarbon compounds through the cleavage of an inert C—H bond. Oxygen-dependent or oxygen-independent activation enzymes can be exploited for this purpose, which when combined with appropriate pathways for the conversion of activated hydrocarbons to key metabolic intermediates, enables the generation of product precursors that can subsequently be converted to desired compounds through established pathways. These novel engineered microorganism(s) provide a route for the production of fuels and chemicals from short chain hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane, butane, and pentane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Inventors: Ramon Gonzalez, James Clomburg, Alexander Chou
  • Publication number: 20230332191
    Abstract: Many biotechnologically relevant organisms cannot utilize cheap and abundant one carbon feedstocks, e.g. CO2, CO, formaldehyde, methanol, and methane, for growth and instead prefer complex feedstocks such as sugars. Disclosed herein is a system that enables organisms to consume one carbon molecules for growth and maintenance via a formyl-CoA elongation pathway. Utilization of one carbon feedstocks can replace the use of sugar as the primary means of cultivating organisms in biotechnological applications. This has the potential to be more cost effective and avoid the controversial use of food as feedstocks. Intermediates of the formyl-CoA elongation pathway may be also be converted to desired chemical products.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2021
    Publication date: October 19, 2023
    Inventors: Ramon GONZALEZ, Alexander CHOU, James CLOMBURG, Fayin ZHU, Seung Hwan LEE
  • Publication number: 20220112477
    Abstract: An engineered microbe that contains a designed platform for the conversion of one-carbon substrates to chemical products is described. The designed platform embodies a new metabolic architecture that consolidates carbon fixation, central metabolism, and product synthesis into a single pathway. This is made possible by the key finding that 2-hydroxyacyl-CoA lyase, an enzyme in the ?-oxidation pathway, is capable of catalyzing the C—C bond formation between formyl-CoA and aldehydes of different chain lengths, allowing for the elongation of the carbon backbone of said aldehyde by one-carbon units. These novel microbes present an opportunity for the production of chemicals from single-carbon feedstocks such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, formate, formaldehyde, methanol or methane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2021
    Publication date: April 14, 2022
    Inventors: Ramon Gonzalez, Alexander Chou, James Clomburg
  • Patent number: 11186834
    Abstract: An engineered microbe that contains a designed platform for the conversion of one-carbon substrates to chemical products is described. The designed platform embodies a new metabolic architecture that consolidates carbon fixation, central metabolism, and product synthesis into a single pathway. This is made possible by the key finding that 2-hydroxyacyl-CoA lyase, an enzyme in the ?-oxidation pathway, is capable of catalyzing the C—C bond formation between formyl-CoA and aldehydes of different chain lengths, allowing for the elongation of the carbon backbone of said aldehyde by one-carbon units. These novel microbes present an opportunity for the production of chemicals from single-carbon feedstocks such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, formate, formaldehyde, methanol or methane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Inventors: Ramon Gonzalez, Alexander Chou, James Clomburg
  • Publication number: 20200347423
    Abstract: An engineered microorganism(s) with novel pathways for the conversion of short-chain hydrocarbons to fuels and chemicals (e.g. carboxylic acids, alcohols, hydrocarbons, and their alpha-, beta-, and omega-functionalized derivatives) is described. Key to this approach is the use of hydrocarbon activation enzymes able to overcome the high stability and low reactivity of hydrocarbon compounds through the cleavage of an inert C—H bond. Oxygen-dependent or oxygen-independent activation enzymes can be exploited for this purpose, which when combined with appropriate pathways for the conversion of activated hydrocarbons to key metabolic intermediates, enables the generation of product precursors that can subsequently be converted to desired compounds through established pathways. These novel engineered microorganism(s) provide a route for the production of fuels and chemicals from short chain hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane, butane, and pentane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2020
    Publication date: November 5, 2020
    Inventors: Ramon Gonzalez, James Clomburg, Alexander Chou
  • Patent number: 10633676
    Abstract: The invention relates to recombinant microorganisms that have been engineered to produce various chemicals using genes that have been repurposed to create a reverse beta oxidation pathway. Generally speaking, the beta oxidation cycle is expressed and driven in reverse by modifying various regulation points for as many cycles as needed, and then the CoA thioester intermediates are converted to useful products by the action of termination enzymes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: William Marsh Rice University
    Inventors: Ramon Gonzalez, James Clomburg, Clementina Dellomonaco, Elliot N. Miller
  • Publication number: 20190100741
    Abstract: An engineered microbe that contains a designed platform for the conversion of one-carbon substrates to chemical products is described. The designed platform embodies a new metabolic architecture that consolidates carbon fixation, central metabolism, and product synthesis into a single pathway. This is made possible by the key finding that 2-hydroxyacyl-CoA lyase, an enzyme in the ?-oxidation pathway, is capable of catalyzing the C—C bond formation between formyl-CoA and aldehydes of different chain lengths, allowing for the elongation of the carbon backbone of said aldehyde by one-carbon units. These novel microbes present an opportunity for the production of chemicals from single-carbon feedstocks such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, formate, formaldehyde, methanol or methane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2015
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: Ramon GONZALEZ, Alexander CHOU, James CLOMBURG
  • Publication number: 20170088862
    Abstract: The invention relates to recombinant microorganisms that have been engineered to produce various chemicals using genes that have been repurposed to create a reverse beta oxidation pathway. Generally speaking, the beta oxidation cycle is expressed and driven in reverse by modifying various regulation points for as many cycles as needed, and then the CoA thioester intermediates are converted to useful products by the action of termination enzymes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Inventors: Ramon GONZALEZ, James Clomburg, Clementina DELLOMONACO, Elliot N. MILLER
  • Patent number: 9416364
    Abstract: The invention relates to recombinant microorganisms that have been engineered to produce various chemicals using genes that have been repurposed to create a reverse beta oxidation pathway. Generally speaking, the beta oxidation cycle is expressed and driven in reverse by modifying various regulation points for as many cycles as needed, and then the CoA thioester intermediates are converted to useful products by the action of termination enzymes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: William Marsh Rice University
    Inventors: Ramon Gonzalez, James Clomburg, Clementina Dellomonaco, Elliot N. Miller
  • Publication number: 20130316413
    Abstract: The invention relates to recombinant microorganisms that have been engineered to produce various chemicals using genes that have been repurposed to create a reverse beta oxidation pathway. Generally speaking, the beta oxidation cycle is expressed and driven in reverse by modifying various regulation points for as many cycles as needed, and then the CoA thioester intermediates are converted to useful products by the action of termination enzymes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2012
    Publication date: November 28, 2013
    Applicant: William Marsh Rice University
    Inventors: Ramon Gonzalez, James Clomburg, Clementina Dellomonaco, Elliot N. Miller