Professor Moon’s research goals are directed toward creating programmable cells that process multiple input signals and produce desirable outputs for real-world applications. Specifically, he aims to build synthetic gene circuits in order to control and improve metabolic pathways for the production of biomass-based chemicals and drugs.

His postdoctoral research at MIT and University of California-San Francisco provided him with expertise in the design and construction of genetic circuits. As a graduate student at MIT, he learned how to construct and optimize novel metabolic pathways to produce biochemicals that can replace oil-based chemicals. Combining his research experiences with more than five years experience in the biotechnology industry, he envisions his career as transforming biology research from an “observation” approach to a “synthesis-based engineering” activity to address energy, environment and health issues.