Our Lab 

Dr Liz Rylott is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP) within the Department of Biology of the University of York. Her research group, established in 2023, focuses on understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying xenobiotic stress responses and detoxification in plants. The team works across a range of environmental pollutants, including explosives, halogenated aliphatics, rare earth elements, and platinum group metals, to develop targeted biotechnologies for soil remediation and critical resource recovery.

In collaboration with chemists, Liz is advancing pyrolysis-based techniques to convert metal-rich biomass into valuable platform chemicals and biofuels. Her lab actively translates these molecular discoveries into biomass crop species such as switchgrass and willow to produce ‘real world’ plants for environmental restoration and phytomining in-the-field. 

Liz received her Ph.D. in Plant Genetics and Biochemistry from The John Innes Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. She has been pivotal in the first demonstration of a biochemical system to degrade the explosive compound RDX, and subsequent characterisation of a structurally unique cytochrome P450; engineering a complete in planta catabolic pathway for the degradation of 1,2-dichloroethane; elucidating the mechanism of TNT phytotoxicity and downstream detoxification pathways; and the first field-trial to demonstrate the efficacy of genetically modified plants to remediate organic pollution (RDX).

Liz also serves as Co-theme Lead for Food, Water, and Waste at the York Environmental Sustainability Institute (YESI) and is Executive Vice-President of the International Phytotechnologies Society, where she fosters interdisciplinary research, policy innovation, and international partnerships. Outside of research, Liz enjoys cycling her Trek bicycle, Mr Rocket.

Giuliano joined the Rylott Lab at CNAP in October 2024 as part of the BBSRC ELEMENTAL Hub. His research focuses on engineering plant-mediated metal solubilisation in the rhizosphere to develop sustainable, plant-based technologies for metal recovery and environmental processing.

Giuliano completed his PhD (Cum Laude) in Plant Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Murcia and CEBAS-CSIC (Spain), where he used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to study plant-virus interactions and floral development in melon crops. 

Giuliano cooks a breathtakingly good tiramisu!

Alex graduated from the University of York re-joining as a Generation Research-funded PhD student in September 2024. His research focuses on understanding how plants absorb and detoxify nickel, aiming to identify and bioengineer Salix (willow) cultivars into high-capacity platforms for nickel phytomining and soil phytoremediation. Alex combines RNA-seq differential gene expression analysis with de novo genome assembly to explore structural variants, gene families, and candidate loci underlying metal tolerance in hyperaccumulators. 

To clear his mind, Alex plunges himself into long-distance, cold-water swimming.

Katy completed her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, focusing on Golgi-localised enzymes involved in plant cell wall biosynthesis. She has now returned to York (where she completed her undergraduate degree in biochemistry) and is working part-time on the Elemental Business Interaction Voucher with the Natural History Museum and Pansana Plc, along with a postdoc position in Luke MacKinder’s group. 

In her spare time, Katy enjoys making artwork and experimenting with different media (with varying rates of success!).

Current University of York MSc student and Elemental-funded summer student, 2026.

Current University of York MSc student and Generation Research funded summer student, 2026.