Eric Young Chemical engineer Eric Young has published a paper in a prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journal related to his research into creating a biosecurity tool to detect bioengineered organisms. Nature Communications, Young, assistant professor of chemical engineering, described his research into accurately assembling yeast genome sequences to enable scientists to reliably find and verify bioengineered organisms based on their unique DNA signatures. In recent years, the U.S. government has recognized the need for new tools that can identify engineered organisms when they are mixed in with a myriad of naturally occurring microorganisms. These tools could be used to protect a company’s intellectual property should an organism it designed accidentally escape the lab, or to detect intentional releases of potentially harmful organisms.