Proteins and peptides for industry
Proteins, as biobased and environmentally friendly products, are used in many industries, e.g., in food and beverage industry, in cosmetics and detergents, in the chemicals industry and many more. The range of potential markets is huge, however, the tailored production of proteins for industrial purposes has its technical challenges. To manage these challenges, we combine technologies and expertise from diverse disciplines, such as molecular biology, protein-engineering and synthetic biology.
Proteins, Peptides & Enzymes
Proteins are ubiquitous biological macromolecules that are made of long, linked chains of amino acids which are linked by peptide bonds. Short amino acid chains are called peptides. Proteins serve all living organisms as tools and materials for executing different tasks. Some proteins, called enzymes, catalyze chemical reactions by lowering their activation energy. In contrast to chemical catalysis, some enzymes are stereo-specific and, hence, allow the evolution of only one stereoisomeric bond out of two or more possible bonds. From this reaction, only one possible product configuration is established, which is entirely biodegradable, and which does not produce byproducts. Through this process, less resources are required for the purification of the products and disposal of enzymes, leading to a decreased environmental impact. Not only is the environmental impact lowered, but bioconversion is often more efficient and more cost-effective, compared to chemical procedures. In addition, a great number of enzymes is already bed down in industrial applications.
Networks
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Advanced Proteins
We can find proteins anywhere in nature in abundance. This class of molecules has many different functions, for instance as catalysts,…
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Technofunctional Proteins — TeFuProt
The TeFuProt project partners intend to isolate proteins from agricultural residual plant materials, especially from canola oil production.…
News
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Proteins play a key role in the life sciences — from basic research and biotechnological applications to the development and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.
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KIT und Sunfire gelingt im Kopernikus-Projekt P2X Technologieupgrade für CO2-neutrale Herstellung von Kraftstoffen
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New-to-Nature Pathway Outperforms Natural Pathway in Living Bacteria
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What does it mean if our economy works without fossil raw materials such as oil and gas? The logical answer is that we will have to create value almost exclusively with biological, renewable…
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A research team from the University of Freiburg led by biochemist Prof. Dr. Oliver Einsle has discovered how the “Shethna protein II” protects the nitrogen-binding enzyme nitrogenase from damage.
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Defossilising the chemicals and derived materials sector is a critical and urgent challenge for industrialisation and delivering the EU’s goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050.
Events
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27. — 28 June 2022 | Munich
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18. ‑19 May 2022 | Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina Halle (Saale)
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22th — 23th February 2023 I Düsseldorf
