Mr Qixun Fang

Email: qfang@sheffield.ac.uk

Biography

I got my BSc degree in South China Agricultural University, China in 2011 and decided to start post-graduate in England. After a year's effort, I was awarded my MSc degree in Mechanistic Biology in the University of Sheffield in 2012. Now I am doing a PhD degree in CHO cell bioinformatics with Dr Paul Dobson, aiming to achieve a better understanding of the metabolic network of CHO cell by using bioinformatic technique.

Supervisor: Dr Paul Dobson

ChELSI
Biological and Environmental Systems Group

Research

Biopharmaceuticals are drugs produced using living cells. The market is expanding rapidly, with over a third of all new drugs under development being biopharmaceuticals. Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are a key platform for the production of protein biopharmaceuticals such as monoclonal antibodies. Using a broad range of bioinformatics approaches, the project will analyse recently generated CHO genome data to identify subtle faults in the CHO cellular machinery. This will allow the biotechnology industry to improve the CHO cell factory to make better, safer and cheaper drugs.