Biocatalysis with oxidative enzymes
My group is working with enzymes – proteins produced by cells to enable their metabolism. Enzymes are responsible for the biochemical reactions of all living organisms and their function has been perfectionated through billions of years of evolution.
Enzymes are protein’s produced by all living organisms and are vital for their cellular function. Without enzymes, we couldn’t digest food, use the oxygen in the air, or see, hear and feel anything. As these “molecular machines” are responsible for all chemical transformations in the cells, a vast amount of variants is known, many of which show activities interesting for industrial application.
We believe that enzymes can constitute a biological solution to several problems faced by the chemical industry with profound societal impact: the use of precious resources, the creation of hazardous waste, and the consumption of large amounts of energy. This is because enzymes are proteins made from natural building blocks, operate in water, and often are much more efficient than chemical transformations.
Enzymes are nature's solution to challenges humans traditionally solved by chemistry.
We want to help in the transformation to our bio-based economy, by using sustainable catalysts.
Enzymes can not only make our industries greener, but also generate new and more efficient processes.
In our research we use many different techniques, combing both experimental and computational work.
Oxidative enzymes
(oxidoreductases)
My group is particularly interest in oxidative enzymes. These enzymes perform redox reactions – in the broadest sense those, that involve the transfer of electrons. These enzymes are called oxidoreductases (EC 1.X.X.X) and we work with several subfamilies:
- Monooxygenases
- Oxidases
- Dehydrogenase
Our work includes the discovery, characterization, engineering and application of these biocatalysts.
Our Lab
Our lab is located in the Physics & Chemistry building (Nijenborgh 4) on the Zernike Campus in Groningen, The Netherlands. We are part of the faculty of science and engineering, and a member of the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB).
Projects & Collaborators
As our research is highly interdisciplinary as well as application-oriented, we strive to participate in collaborative research consortia whenever possible. We have been or are part of a number of European projects such as SMARTBOX, Oxygreen, ROBOX, Oxytrain, which were highly successful in bringing academic and industrial partners together. Furthermore we are always open for individual collaborations.