*Corresponding author; #Equal co-authorship; **Equal co-corresponding author
2025
(Invited Review) Margarita Bernal-Cabas, Karan Kumar, Owen Terpstra, Samira van den Bogaard, Aziz Ben Ammar, Susanna Mäkinen, Lukas Herwig, Marta de Almeida, Petri Tervasmäki*, Lars M. Blank, Tobias B. Alter*, Sonja Billerbeck*. “Food production from air: Gas precision fermentation with hydrogen oxidizing bacteria.” Trends in Biotechnology (In-press) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2025.08.003
(Review) Ajeet Kumar Prajapati, Annanya Mahajan, Shraddha Mangesh Jadhav, and Karan Kumar*. "Fourth-generation (4G) biodiesel: Paving the way for a greener and sustainable energy future in emerging economies." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 225, July 2025, Page 116103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2025.116103
2024
(Review) Ahmad Mustafa*, Shah Faisal, Jaswinder Singh, Boutaina Rezki, Karan Kumar, Vijayanand S Moholkar, Ozben Kutlu, Ahmed Aboulmagd, Hamdy Khamees Thabet, Zeinhom M El-Bahy, Oguzhan Der, Cassamo Ussemane Mussagy, Luigi di Bitonto, Mushtaq Ahmad, Carlo Pastore. "Converting Lignocellulosic Biomass into Valuable End Products for Decentralized Energy Solution: A Comprehensive Overview," Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, Volume 72, December 2024, Page 104065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2024.104065
Avinash Anand, Karan Kumar, Kaustubh Chandrakant Khaire, Kuldeep Roy, Vijayanand Suryakant Moholkar*. “Ultrasound-assisted hydrolysis of food waste using glucoamylase: Statistical optimization and mechanistic analysis with molecular simulations.” Bioresource Technology Reports, Volume 27, September 2024, Page 101932. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2024.101932
(Invited Chapter) Karan Kumar, Kaustubh C. Khaire, Kuldeep Roy*, Vijayanand S. Moholkar*. “Applications of Microbial Fermentation Technique for the Synthesis of Bioalcohols from Different Agrobiomass.” In: Chakraborty, S., Nayak, J., & Banerjee, S., (eds.) Agricultural Biomass for the Synthesis of Value-Added Materials, eBook ISBN 9781003407713, 496, CRC Press, September 2024. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003407713-5
(Invited Chapter) Karan Kumar*, Piyal Mondal, Shraddha M. Jadhav, Vijayanand S. Moholkar. Application of Enzymatic Technique for the Synthesis of Bio-degradable Polymers from Different Agrobiomass. In: Chakraborty, S., Nayak, J., & Banerjee, S., (eds.) Agricultural Biomass for the Synthesis of Value-Added Materials, eBook ISBN 9781003407713, 496, CRC Press, September 2024. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003407713-12
(Invited Chapter) Karan Kumar*, Shrivatsa Hegde, Ramyakrishna A.R, Anweshan, Vijayanand S. Moholkar. Application of Microbial Technique for the Synthesis of Organic Acid from Different Agrobiomass. In: Chakraborty, S., Nayak, J., & Banerjee, S., (eds.) Agricultural Biomass for the Synthesis of Value-Added Materials, eBook ISBN 9781003407713, 496, CRC Press, September 2024. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003407713-9
(Invited Chapter) Anjli Tanwar, Disha Mukherjee, Karan Kumar*, and Vijayanand S. Moholkar. Application of Microbial Fermentation Technique for the Synthesis of Fermentable Sugars from Different Agrobiomass. In: Chakraborty, S., Nayak, J., & Banerjee, S., (eds.) Agricultural Biomass for the Synthesis of Value-Added Materials, eBook ISBN 9781003407713, 496, CRC Press, September 2024. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003407713-3
(Invited Chapter) Shraddha M. Jadhav, Poulami Mukherjee, Karan Kumar*, Vijayanand S. Moholkar. Application of Enzymatic Technique for the Synthesis of Bio-alcohols From Different Agrobiomass. In: Chakraborty, S., Nayak, J., & Banerjee, S., (eds.) Agricultural Biomass for the Synthesis of Value-Added Materials, eBook ISBN 9781003407713, 496, CRC Press, September 2024. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003407713-8
Karan Kumar*, Suryasarathi Kumar, Ankit Goswami, Vijayanand S Moholkar, "Advancing sustainable biofuel production: A computational insight into microbial systems for isopropanol synthesis and beyond," Process Safety and Environmental Protection, Volume 188, August 2024, Pages 1118-1132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2024.06.024
Karan Kumar*, Shraddha M Jadhav, Vijayanand S Moholkar, "Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE) fermentation with clostridial co-cultures for enhanced biobutanol production," Process Safety and Environmental Protection, Volume 185, May 2024, Pages 277-285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2024.03.027
(Invited Chapter) Karan Kumar, Avinash Anand, Vijayanand S. Moholkar*. Molecular Hydrogen (H2) Metabolism in Microbes: A Special Focus on Biohydrogen Production. In: Soccol, C.R., Brar, S.K., Permaul, K., Pakshirajan, K., de Carvalho, J.C. (eds) Biohydrogen - Advances and Processes. Biofuel and Biorefinery Technologies, Volume 13. April 2024, Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49818-3_2
(Invited Chapter) Avinash Anand, Karan Kumar, Vijayanand S. Moholkar*. Various Routes for Hydrogen Production and Its Utiliza-tion for Sustainable Economy. In: Soccol, C.R., Brar, S.K., Permaul, K., Pakshirajan, K., de Carvalho, J.C. (eds) Biohydrogen - Advances and Processes. Biofuel and Biorefinery Technologies, Volume 13. April 2024, Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49818-3_20
(Invited Chapter) Shraddha M. Jadhav & Karan Kumar*. “Biomarker Analysis for Alzheimer's Disease.” In: Bhattacharya, K., Bhattacharjee, A.(eds) Computational and Experimental Studies in Alzheimer's Disease, March 2024, Chapman and Hall/CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003412069-5
2023
Karan Kumar, Lepakshi Barbora, Vijayanand S Moholkar*, "Genomic insights into clostridia in bioenergy production: Comparison of metabolic capabilities and evolutionary relationships," Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Volume 121, Issue 4, 2023, Pages 1297-1312. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.28610
Karan Kumar, Pallavi Patro, Unnati Raut, Varsha Yadav, Lepakshi Barbora, Vijayanand S. Moholkar*. “Elucidating the molecular mechanism of ultrasound-enhanced lipase-catalyzed biodiesel synthesis: a computational study.” Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-023-04742-4
(Conference Publication) Karan Kumar*, Vijayanand S. Moholkar. “Mechanistic Aspects of Enhanced Kinetics in Sonoenzymatic Processes Using Three Simultaneous Approaches.” In: Moholkar, V.S., Mohanty, K., Goud, V.V. (eds) Sustainable Energy Genera-tion and Storage. NERC 2022. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2088-4_5
2022
(Invited Chapter) Karan Kumar*, Heena Shah, and Vijayanand S. Moholkar. “Genetic Algorithm for Optimization of Fermentation Processes of Various Enzyme Productions.” In: J Satya Eswari, Nisha Suryawanshi (eds) Optimization of Sustainable Enzymes Production, November 2022, pp. 121-144. Chapman and Hall/CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003292333-6
Neha Singh#, Karan Kumar#, Arun Goyal, Vijayanand S Moholkar*, "Ultrasound-assisted biodiesel synthesis by in-situ transesterifica-tion of microalgal biomass: Optimization and kinetic analysis," Algal Research, Volume 61, January 2022, Pages 102582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2021.102582
2021
Karan Kumar, Kuldeep Roy, Vijayanand S Moholkar*, "Mechanistic investigations in sonoenzymatic synthesis of n-butyl levulinate," Process Biochemistry, Volume 111, December 2021, Pages 147-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2021.09.005
2019
Ritesh Malani, Sachin B Umriwad#, Karan Kumar#, Arun Goyal, Vijyanand Suryakant Moholkar*. “Ultrasound-assisted enzymatic biodiesel production using blended feedstock of non–edible oils: Kinetic analysis.” Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 188, May 2019, Pages 142-150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2019.03.052
Karan Kumar*, Azeeza Siddiqa. MD, Pragati, Priti Chandane, Mahima Kori, A Shivram, Saanya Yadav, Lepakshi Barbora, and Vijayanand S. Moholkar, (2022). Computational investigations in inhibition of alcohol/aldehyde dehydrogenase in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. bioRxiv 2022.11.19.517192; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.19.517192
Karan Kumar, Lepakshi Barbora, Vijayanand S. Moholkar* (2022). Comparative genomic analysis and constraint-based analysis of genome-scale metabolic models of the genus Clostridia. Authorea, November 16, 2022. https://doi.org/10.22541/au.166858569.91782041/v1
Karan Kumar, Pallavi Patro, Unnati Raut, et al., (2022). Ultrasonic enhancement of lipase-catalyzed reactions: Mechanistic investigation using molecular docking analysis. Authorea, October 31, 2022; https://doi.org/10.22541/au.166722851.12958171/v1
Caroline Vilas Boas de Melo, Maruf Ahmed Bhuiyan, Winfred Nyoroka Gatua, Stephen Kanyerezi, Leonard Uzairue, Priscilla Abechi, Karan Kumar, et al. (2020). Transcriptomic dysregulations associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in human nasopharyngeal and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. bioRxiv 2020.09.09.289850; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.09.289850
142nd BASF International Summer Course 2025, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Aug 2025.
33rd Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB)/ 24th European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB), ACC Liverpool, Liverpool, Jul 2025.
ByteMAL 2025, KU Leuven, Leuven, Apr 2025.
23rd International Conference on Systems Biology (ICSB 2024), IIT Bombay, Mumbai; Dec 2024.
BioSC International Summer School on Alternative Proteins, RWTH Aachen University, Germany; Sept 2024.
PMRF Symposium 2023, IIT Madras, Chennai, India, Feb 2023.
VII- International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environmental Challenges (VII-SEEC), at Indian Institute of Technology - BHU, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India (December 16-18, 2022).
International Conference on Biotechnology for Sustainable Bioresources and Bioeconomy (BSBB-2022), Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, India (December 7-11, 2022).
16th International Conference on the Genetics, Physiology, and Synthetic Biology of Solvent- and Acid-Forming Clostridia (Clostridia XVI), held at INSA in Toulouse, France (September 14 - 17, 2022).
30th Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB 2022) held at Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison, Wisconsin, United States (July 10 - 14, 2022).
North-East Research Conclave 2022 (NERC 2022) held at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India (May 20-22, 2022).
Research & Industrial Conclave Integration 2022 (RIC 2022), An Amalgamation of Academia, Industry & Start-ups, organized by Students' Academic Board in collaboration with IIT Guwahati Research Park at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.
VI- International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environmental Challenges (VI-SEEC) organized by the International Society for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability (ISEES), Lucknow, December 27-29, 2021.
XVIII Annual Convention of the Biotech Research Society, India (BRSI) International Conference on Biotechnology for Resource Efficiency, Energy, Environment, Chemicals, and Health (BREEECH-2021), CSIR- Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun; December 1-4, 2021.
ESS-AOSS-JSS 1st Joint Sonochemistry Conference (online) (November 8-10, 2021).
The Second Edition of the Virtual International Conference on Natural Products and Synthetic Biology (ICNSB-2020), jointly organized by the School of Bioscience and Technology (SBST), Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore and Society of Chemical and Synthetic Biology (SCSB) held from 4-5 July 2020.
International E-conference on “Recent Trends in Drug Discovery, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics: A special emphasis on COVID-19”, organized by Department of Biotechnology, VIGNAN's Foundation for Science, Technology & Research in association with Kanas State University, LLB School, AP Academy of Sciences and Al-Quds University, held from July 2-4, 2020.
Second International Conference on Bioprocess for Sustainable Environment and Energy (ICBSEE- India- 2020), NIT Rourkela, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, 05-07 March 2020.
Fourth Asia-Oceania Sonochemical Society Conference (AOSS-4), Nanjing University, Nanjing, China, 19 – 21 September 2019.
First International Conference on Energy & Environment: Global Challenges (ICEE 2018) held at Dept. of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, India during March 9-10, 2018.
Poster presentation “HYDROCOW: Milk from carbon dioxide and electricity” at 142nd BASF International Summer Course 2025, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Aug 2025.
Oral presentation “Unravelling the pangenome of autotrophic bacteria: Metabolic commonalities, evolutionary relationships, and indus-trially relevant traits” at 33rd Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB)/ 24th European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB), ACC Liverpool, Liverpool, Jul 2025.
Oral presentation “Genomic insights into Clostridia for bioenergy production: A comparative pangenome analysis of Clostridium aceto-butylicum and Clostridium pasteurianum” at ByteMAL 2025, KU Leuven, Leuven, Apr 2025.
Poster cum Flash talk “Developing a pangenome pipeline for gene library preparation to engineer autotrophic strains for net-zero car-bon dairy protein production” at 23rd International Conference on Systems Biology (ICSB 2024), IIT Bombay, Mumbai; Dec 2024.
Poster presentation “Enhancing net-zero carbon dairy protein production through genome-scale metabolic model reconstruction and pangenome analysis in Xanthobacter sp. SoF1 and related strains” at 9th COBRA Conference, San Diego, USA; Oct 2024.
Seminar presentation “HYDROCOW: Engineering hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria for sustainable milk production” at Institute of Applied Microbiology, RWTH Aachen University, Germany; Oct 2024.
Invited lecture “HYDROCOW – Milk from carbon dioxide and electricity” at BioSC International Summer School on Alternative Proteins, RWTH Aachen University, Germany; Sept 2024.
Invited lecture “Application of Computational Biology in fundamental research” at Workshop on Theory & Hands-on Practice on Com-putational Biology, Jagiroad College, Assam, India; Aug 2023.
Oral presentation “Unraveling genomic differences between Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 and C. pasteurianum ATCC 6013” at VII-SEEC, IIT-BHU, Varanasi, India; Dec 2022. (Best Paper Award)
Keynote lecture “Recent advances in Clostridial co-culture techniques to mitigate global energy crisis by enhanced biofuel production” at 3rd International Webinar on Biofuel & Biomass 2022 (Conference Mind) at Singapore City, Singapore, Dec 2022. (Best Keynote speaker Award)
Oral presentation “Deciphering the physiological underpinning of solventogenesis in Clostridia using genome-scale metabolic models” at Clostridia XVI, INSA Toulouse, France; Sept 2022.
e-Poster presentation “Computational investigations in inhibition of alcohol/aldehyde dehydrogenase (AAD) in lignocellulosic hydroly-sates” at ISMB 2022, Madison, USA; Jul 2022.
Oral presentation “Mechanistic aspects of enhanced kinetics in sonoenzymatic processes using three simultaneous approaches” at North-East Research Conclave (NERC-2022), IIT Guwahati, India; May 2022. (Springer Best Paper Award)
3-Minute Thesis presentation “Investigating and enhancing alcoholic biofuels using systems metabolic engineering” at Research & Industrial Conclave (RIC 2022), IIT Guwahati, India; Jan 2022.
Oral presentation “Potent process inhibitors affecting the key enzyme AdhE2 for butanol production in Clostridium acetobutylicum” at RIC 2022, IIT Guwahati, India; Jan 2022. (Best Oral Presentation Award)
Oral presentation “Reconstruction and constraint-based analysis of genome-scale metabolic models: In-silico approach to enhance biofuel production in solventogenic Clostridia” at RIC 2022, IIT Guwahati, India; Jan 2022.
e-Poster presentation “Mechanistic investigations in sonoenzymatic synthesis of n-butyl levulinate” at PMRF Symposium, IIT Delhi, India; Jan 2022.
Invited lecture “In-silico approach to enhance alcoholic biofuels in solventogenic Clostridia: Progress in genome-scale metabolic model reconstruction” at 2nd International Webinar on Biofuel & Biomass (Conference Mind); Jan 2022. (Best Young Scientist Award)
Invited talk “Application of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics in Biofuel Production Technologies” at Faculty of Life Sciences, Mandsaur University, India; Jan 2022.
Oral presentation “Theoretical studies to understand the inhibition mechanism of alcohol/aldehyde dehydrogenase due to inhibitors present in lignocellulosic hydrolysates” at VI-SEEC, Lucknow, India; Dec 2021.
Oral presentation “Comparative genomic analysis and constraint-based analysis of genome-scale models of solventogenic Clostridia” at BREEECH-2021, CSIR-IIP Dehradun, India; Dec 2021. (Best Oral Presentation Award)
e-Poster presentation “Unravelling mechanistic aspects of sono-enzymatic esterification via experiments and computation” at 1st ESS-AOSS-JSS Joint Sonochemistry Conference (online); Nov 2021.
e-Poster presentation “Applications of machine learning in systems metabolic engineering strategies for enhanced biofuel production” at ICNSB-2020 (virtual), VIT Vellore, India; Jul 2020.
Oral presentation “Systems metabolic engineering strategies to enhance production of biofuels: A mini-review” at ICBSEE-2020, NIT Rourkela, India; Mar 2020.
Oral presentation “Ultrasound-assisted enzymatic biodiesel production using blended non-edible oils: Kinetic analysis” at AOSS-4, Nanjing University, China; Sept 2019.
Seminar presentation “To identify molecular targets of small molecules using Drug Affinity Responsive Target Stability (DARTS)” at School of Biotechnology, NIT Calicut, India; Mar 2018.
Oral presentation “Recent advances in carbon-based nanostructured materials and their biomedical applications” at ICEE-2018, NIT Calicut, India; Mar 2018.
Attended “Algal Technology and Its Applications” (TEQIP-II National Workshop), NIT Calicut, India; Mar 2017.
Attended “Advances in Biomedical Sciences and Engineering” (National Seminar), NIT Calicut, India; Oct 2016.
Addressed Seminar on the topic "To Identify the Molecular Targets of Small Molecules Using Drug Affinity Responsive Target Stability (DARTS) " at School of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, India on March 15, 2018.
Participated in TEQIP II Sponsored TWO Days National workshop on "Algal technology and Its Applications" organized by Dept. of Mechanical, Chemical and School of Biotechnology of National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, India during March 17-18, 2017.
First International Conference on Energy & Environment: Global Challenges (ICEE 2018) held at Dept. of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, India during March 9-10, 2018.
Karan Kumar, Anveshika Manoj and Kausar Mahmood Ansari, "A Review on Food Additives Toxicity (khaady yojakon kee vishaaktata par ek sameeksha)", Vishvigyan Sandesh, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India vol. 30, pp. 11-14, 2018-19, ISBN: 0972-1746.
Karan Kumar, Darpan Raghav, and Rathinasamy Krishnan, "Recent advances in carbon-based nanostructured materials (CBNs) and their biomedical applications", in First International Conference on Energy and Environment: Global Challenges (ICEE-2018), Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, India (abstract published).
Participated in the TEQIP II Sponsored Two Days National Seminar on "Advances in Biomedical Sciences and Engineering" organized by Dept. of Chemistry and School of Nano Science and Technology, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, India from October 17-18, 2016.