Multi-Enzyme Magnetosome-based Platform for Flow Biocatalysis
Project ID: 2531ad1492
(You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Manufacturing The Future
UCL Lead department: Biochemical Engineering
Lead Supervisor: Frank Baganz
Project Summary:
Why this research is important Multi-enzyme catalysis is becoming increasingly important to produce complex molecules. However, the enzymes must first be extracted and purified from biological systems. Thereby several separation steps are necessary, which leads to increased production costs. These could be drastically reduced with the help of magnetotactic bacteria. These bacteria orient themselves to the earth’s magnetic field and align themselves accordingly by means of special magnetic nanoparticles. A few years ago, the first work on in vitro immobilisation of enzymes with magnetosomes and subsequent purification by magnetic separation was published. Building on these, this project aims to develop a new platform technology that would enable the facile production and subsequent purification of multi-enzyme biocatalysts.
Who you will be working with You will work in a vibrant department, and more specifically in a multi-disciplinary group that has expertise in synthetic biology, enzyme expression/characterisation and biocatalysis. This project will be complementary to ongoing work on multi-step flow biocatalysis using enzymes immobilised on commercially sourced magnetic nanoparticles.
What you will be doing You will be learning how to use synthetic biology approaches to engineer and functionalise magnetosomes, how to purify magnetic nanoparticles and immobilise enzymes onto them, design and characterise enzyme microreactors and perform flow biocatalysis with single and multiple immobilised enzymes.
Who we are looking for A highly motivated, self-reliant bioscientist or biochemcial engineer who already has synthetic biology and/or biocatalysis experience or is willing to learn corresponding techniques and wants to obtain a foundation suitable for later academic or industrial career.