Michal Poborsky

Michal Poborsky is a Research Fellow at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences within the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen. His work focuses on engineering microbial systems for sustainable production of plant-derived compounds, operating under the Section for Molecular Plant Biology.

Education

• PhD in Biotechnology from University of Copenhagen (awarded July 2022), thesis: Engineering Escherichia coli towards production of plant specialized metabolites

His research integrates metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and enzyme design to optimize microbial cell factories. Key expertise includes cytochrome P450 expression in Escherichia coli, benzylglucosinolate pathway engineering in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and rational redesign of hydratases for enhanced substrate specificity. His methodologies address critical challenges in heterologous metabolite production, including enzyme functionality, transport engineering, and pathway compartmentalization.

Analysis of his 2020-2023 publications reveals a cohesive trajectory in microbial engineering for plant metabolite synthesis. Dominant themes include cytochrome P450 functionality in bacterial systems (2023), comparative pathway engineering in yeast (2022), and precision enzyme engineering for regioselectivity control (2020-2021). These works collectively advance sustainable bioproduction of high-value phytochemicals through innovative strain and pathway design.

No scientific awards are documented in the provided materials.

While no formal advising roles or grant funding are specified, his collaborative network includes prominent researchers such as Barbara Ann Halkier, Carl Crocoll, and Morten S. Motawie across 5 of his 6 publications. His work has been referenced in 1 patent and garnered significant academic attention with 108 total Mendeley readers.

Poborsky operates within the molecular plant biology research group led by Professor Barbara Ann Halkier at Thorvaldsensvej 40, Frederiksberg. His laboratory work centers on microbial strain development, with experimental focus on E. coli and yeast platforms for plant metabolite biosynthesis, leveraging techniques in genetic engineering, enzyme kinetics, and metabolic flux analysis.