Protein, Cell Engineering for Biocatalytic Processes

By Robert Kourist Enzymes catalyse challenging chemical reactions under very mild reaction conditions. An optimization of synthetic applications requires a good knowledge of their structure and their mechanisms. An essential feature of the cellular metabolism is its immense complexity. To cope with this complexity, nature developed biocatalysts with outstanding selectivity. This selectivity can be utilized for the development of efficient biotechnological processes. The possibility to discriminate between very similar molecules or to selectively produce one compound from several possible products allows the number of reaction steps or synthetic routes to be reduced and the separation and purification of the reaction products to be greatly facilitated. This results in tremendous savings in terms of cost, energy and waste accumulation.