Genetic engineering process applications

Keywords. Antibiotics, Contamination-free mass culture, Molecular biology, Genetic engineering, Computer application, On-line analytics, Process automation, Transgenic plants, Food from genetically modified crops, Restrictive policy, Ethical concerns... 

In vitro enzymatic polymerizations have the potential for processes that are more regio-selective and stereoselective, proceed under more moderate conditions, and are more benign toward the environment than the traditional chemical processes. However, little of this potential has been realized. A major problem is that the reaction rates are slow compared to non-enzymatic processes. Enzymatic polymerizations are limited to moderate temperatures (often no higher than 50-75°C) because enzymes are denaturated and deactivated at higher temperatures. Also, the effective concentrations of enzymes in many systems are low because the enzymes are not soluble. Research efforts to address these factors include enzyme immobilization to increase enzyme stability and activity, solubilization of enzymes by association with a surfactant or covalent bonding with an appropriate compound, and genetic engineering of enzymes to tailor their catalytic activity to specific applications. 

Some of the topics we discuss in this chapter are essential for understanding processes such as MEUF. The same ideas can also be used for other separation processes (e.g., protein separation in reverse micelles) and in genetic engineering, as mentioned in Vignette 1.3 in Chapter 1. We also see in this chapter other applications such as using micelles as microreactors, i.e., using the unique environment inside micelles for catalysis and material synthesis. 

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