Biography Crysten earned her PhD in Microbiology and Cell Science in 2011 from the University of Florida, working with Valérie de Crécy-Lagard on using comparative genomics to predict gene function in bacteria and leveraging molecular biology and reverse genetics to test those hypotheses. From 2011 – 2015, she worked with Sabeeha Merchant at UCLA as a NIH-NRSA postdoctoral fellow expanding her experimental repertoire to include in vitro protein-based techniques, algae, and plants, while focusing on understanding the evolution and function of proteins involved in metal homeostasis. She began her independent research career at Brookhaven National Laboratory (2015) where she co-founded and led the Quantitative Plant Science Initiative (2017-2022). In 2022, she joined the Molecular Foundry as a staff scientist with a dual appointment at the Joint Genome Institute.

Research Interests Crysten is fascinated by how biology has evolved to use proteins to catalyze chemical and structural transformations. Her curiosity finds an outlet in the discovery and characterization of function and molecular mechanisms: What is the function of each protein, how do those proteins function, and how can we re-engineer function? Within the vast expanse of molecular functionalities, Crysten’s research focuses on the discovery, characterization, and redesign of biomaterials and metal-trafficking pathways. She is also involved in advancing synthetic-biology-based strategies for developing algae as chassis for biomaterial and bioenergy synthesis.