Research includes engineering yeast cells to degrade starch while utilizing the released glucose molecules to synthesize ethanol as a biofuel; examining the influence of the signal molecule indole on whether or not E. coli cells enter the persister state in response to environmental stressors such as antibiotics or silver nanoparticles; engineering bacteria that naturally contain magnetic particles such that they secrete antitumerogenic agents in hypoxic regions of mammalian tumors.