Enzyme search

Researchers at Heriot-Watt University and Plymouth Marine Laboratory, in collaboration with Edinburgh-based Ingenza, are searching for new enzymes for use as manufacturing tools in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.

The project, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Technology Strategy Board, uses biochemical techniques to identify potentially useful enzymes in microbes that are found in the sea.

Dr Robert Speight, head of biosciences at Ingenza, said: ‘We are using biology in our chemical processes to come up with improved manufacturing routes. We are taking advantage of the natural diversity of marine organisms that has arisen through evolution in different environments and coupling that with high-tech screening systems.

'We are looking to find naturally-occurring microbes that already have a built-in capacity to do the chemical reactions we want to perform in industry. There is every possibility of developing more efficient and sustainable manufacturing solutions – for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals in particular – as a result of this search.’