OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

“Biosciences span from genes to ecosystems. Our diverse 

community of scientists employs techniques from exascale 

computing to microfluidics in enabling biological approaches 

to environmental sustainability.”

—Biosciences Division Director Julie Mitchell

Biosciences

The Biosciences Division (BSD) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) advances science and technology to better understand complex 

biological systems and their relationship with the environment. Our innovations support the nation’s growing bioeconomy and focus on 

scientific challenges in biology for US Department of Energy (DOE) missions in energy and the environment.

Understanding Biological Systems

Our scientists enjoy an open, inclusive, and innovative workplace where they apply highperformance computing (HPC) to discover complex genetic traits critical to bioenergy, climateresistant crops, and more. We use the Laboratory’s neutron science capabilities to increase 

understanding of cell structure and intracell interactions. We develop biodesign tools to engineer 

safer, more reliable, and more productive ecosystems, and inform development of new disease 

diagnostics and treatments through fundamental science discoveries.

Bioanalytical mass spectrometry—Developing and deploying high-performance mass 

spectrometry techniques for characterization of biomolecules

Biological and environmental research information system—Supporting DOE’s 

Biological and Environmental Research program as its primary communications resource 

Biomaterials and biomass characterization—Applying laser and magnetic 

resonance spectroscopy to characterize the molecular and elemental composition of 

biomaterials and biomass 

Computational and predictive biology—Employing data science, predictive 

modeling, and HPC to transform biological data into knowledge

Integrative microbiomics—Combining cellular, molecular, and genomic 

approaches to study microbes and their interactions with hosts and the environment

Molecular and cellular imaging—Advancing and implementing tools to observe 

biological function in action

Molecular biophysics—Applying scalable computing and data science to characterize 

the structure, function, and dynamics of complex biomolecular systems

Plant systems biology—Exploring the network of genes, proteins, metabolites, and 

environmental signals that lead to improved plant performance

Synthetic biology—Developing and applying techniques for biosystems design to 

solve renewable energy and environmental challenges

1,025

Publications in 

the past 5 years

125

Staff 1st

To break exascale

computing barrier with

genomics study

29

Patents in the

past 5 years

42,000

Populus genes

decoded
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle LLC for the US Department of Energy January 2023

CONTACT

Julie Mitchell

Director

Biosciences Division

mitchelljc@ornl.gov

865-574-5845

One Bethel Valley Road, 

Oak Ridge, TN 37830

www.ornl.gov/

division/bsd

Recent Impacts

• Identified two new species of Sphagnum moss, the ecosystem engineer that 

stores one-third of the world’s soil carbon in peat bogs

• Developed a two-step chemical and biological process to break down and 

upcycle mixed plastics into valuable bioproducts 

• Engineered microbes to convert emissions from industrial processes into 

acetone and isopropanol 

• Highlighted a hybrid approach that uses microbes and catalysis to convert 

cellulosic biomass into fuels suitable for aviation and other difficult-toelectrify sectors 

• Created a new microbial trait-mapping capability that accelerates gene function 

identification and biodesign 

• Discovered a pathway to encourage a type of lignin formation in plants that 

could make the processing of crops grown for products such as sustainable jet 

fuels easier and less costly 

• Developed the rhizosphere-on-a-chip, a miniaturized environment to study the 

ecosystem around poplar tree roots for insights into plant health and soil 

carbon sequestration 

Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory—A unique high-throughput plant 

phenotyping system aids the scientific community in connecting plant gene functions to 

observable traits. The system, now in the commissioning phase, automates measurement 

of a range of key plant characteristics using the most diverse suite of imaging capabilities 

of any system worldwide.

Center for Bioenergy Innovation—The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI) harnesses 

natural diversity and beneficial plant–microbe interactions to create high-performance biomass 

feedstocks for environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and industrially relevant bioproducts and 

biofuels. CBI creates value-added coproducts from lignin residues and engineers microbes and 

catalysts to increase biofuel production efficiency and to lower costs.

Center for Molecular Biophysics—The University of Tennessee/ORNL 

Center for Molecular Biophysics performs research at the interface of biological, 

environmental, physical, computational, and neutron sciences. The goal is to 

study and understand the function of biologically relevant molecular systems by 

employing HPC simulations in combination with biophysical experiments.