A new ERC project aims to improve our understanding of enzyme stability and broaden the field of potential applications for biocatalysis.
Professor John Woodley from DTU Chemical Engineering has received an Advanced Grant from ERC, the European Research Council. The grant of EUR 2.4 M will for the next five years fund research in enzymes and the effect on their stability when utilised in science and industry.
The enzyme-based industry is vast, but stability remains an issue. The reason behind it is a fundamental scientific question that remains unanswered. In nature, enzymes, which are proteins, catalyse the chemical processes needed for cells to function. Outside of nature, in science and industry alike, they perform the same functions, catalysing chemical processes to the benefit of the food industry, biotechnology, chemistry, and medicine.
However, In these practical but new-to-nature applications, enzymes lose their stability. They unfold, losing their structure and activity—and we do not know precisely how or why. That is a challenge, John Woodley explains, since we would like to use enzymes in many other environments as well:
"I think the opportunity for using enzymes is far greater than we have really achieved yet. There is an enormous potential that allows going into, for example, medium to low-priced chemical products. Today, the vast majority of chemicals are made using traditional chemical methods. Still, we can do much better than that, using enzyme-based catalysis to create more sustainable solutions. What we need to do is bring down the cost contribution of the enzymes. One part is producing the enzymes, but big enzyme-producing companies are experts at this, so we will not make big improvements to that. What we can do, however, is to get the enzymes to last for longer. And that is a question of stability."
