Enzyme Technology

The mission of  the Enzyme Technology research group is to conduct research that provides new knowledge, new enzymes, and new innovative process strategies for resource utilization, industrial bioconversion processes, and new products supporting a sustainable development. The research group is also dedicated to hatching top-qualified MSc and PhD candidates through research-based teaching and structured supervision.

Our research also involves sustainability assessment and separation technology research in the context of bioenergy and biorefinery processes. The research is structured into two core disciplinary topics:

Enzyme Engineering

The purpose of the Enzyme Engineering research is to discover and develop new enzymes for novel innovative reactions and products. The research is based on both advanced database mining, explorative enzyme discovery (biodiversity screening), and ingenious bioresource utilization, and employs state-of-the-art techniques and tools for cloning, evolution, microbial expression, purification, and characterization of enzymes.

Key research objectives include:

• Development of new enzymes for extraction and modification of food ingredients
• Design of innovative biocatalyzed reactions, including selective transglycosylation reactions
• Enzymatic development of carbohydrate-based functional food ingredients
• Provision of new understanding of enzyme structure-function relationships
• Development of faster enzymes by targeted protein engineering

Bioprocess Enzyme Technology

The purpose of the Bioprocess Enzyme Technololgy research is to provide the knowledge base for development of innovative methods and/or processes for ingenious, industrial production of food ingredients, bioactive compounds, biofuels/biofuel chemicals, and platform compounds by:

• Providing new technological solutions for upgrading of plant cell materials to bioactive and other value-added compounds
• Providing knowledge on the reaction kinetics, biocatalytic productivity, and robustness of enzymes during industrial action and on complex substrates
• Developing new enzyme assisted processes for agricultural, food, and biorefinery applications.