Chen Jit Ern

Chen Jit Ern

  • Associate Professor
  • Head of Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development
Department of Biological Sciences

Biography

Dr. Chen Jit Ern is  the Head of the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development and an Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Sunway University at Sunway University. His primary research interest is in the development and utilization of genetic engineering techniques and molecular tools on various microalgae, to study the underlying mechanisms for physiological traits such as lipid accumulation and heat tolerance. His previous Post-Doctoral position was in KAUST, Saudi Arabia, studying the potential for increased heat-tolerance in Zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium microadriaticum), the photosynthetic coral endosymbiont, native to the Red Sea. In the Master in Sustainability Development Management program (MSDM), Dr Chen teaches courses on Earth’s Climate System and on Biodiversity.

His current project in Sunway University is a continuation of this work, with a particular emphasis on the study of heat-activated Zooxanthellae retrotransposons retrotransposons and on experimental evolution of heat-tolerance in microalgae. His other projects include genetic engineering of the model green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for protein production, the effects of algae auxins on the growth profile of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and monitoring the biodiversity of plants and algae in Bandar Sunway.

He is also in charge of environmental monitoring of the lakes in Bandar Sunway, and advises Sunway Group on their sustainability initiatives.

Academic & Professional Qualifications

  • PhD in Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge (2014)
  • BA in Natural Sciences (Biological), University of Cambridge (2009)

Research Interests

  • Plant and algal molecular biology, genetics and genetic engineering
  • Coral-algal symbiosis
  • Algal phylogenetics and diversity
  • Transgenic protein biosynthesis
  • Experimental evolution
  • Atomistic simulation of novel materials properties in energy storage and conversion devices
  • Phenomenological studies of charge transport in semiconductors

Notable Publications

  1. Herrera, M., Klein, S.G., Schmidt‐Roach, S., Campana, S., Cziesielski, M.J., Chen, J.E., Duarte, C.M. and Aranda, M., 2020. Unfamiliar partnerships limit cnidarian holobiont acclimation to warming. Global change biology, 26(10), pp.5539-5553.
  2. Chen, J.E., Barbrook, A.C., Cui, G., Howe, C.J. and Aranda, M., 2019. The genetic intractability of Symbiodinium microadriaticum to standard algal transformation methods. PloS one, 14(2), p.e0211936.
  3. Chen, J. E., Cui, G., Wang, X., Liew, Y. J., & Aranda, M. (2017). Recent expansion of heat-activated retrotransposons in the coral symbiont Symbiodinium microadriaticum. The ISME journal, 12(2), 639.
  4. Chen, J. E., & Smith, A. G. (2012). A look at diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGATs) in algae. Journal of biotechnology, 162(1), 28-39.
  5. Brown, N. J., Newell, C. A., Stanley, S., Chen, J. E., Perrin, A. J., Kajala, K., & Hibberd, J. M. (2011). Independent and parallel recruitment of preexisting mechanisms underlying C4 photosynthesis. Science, 331(6023), 1436-1439.