Company Information
The Molecular Enzymology group of the University of Groningen (headed by Prof. Dr.Ir. Marco W. Fraaije) is interested in oxidative and reductive enzymes containing various cofactors. Research is aimed at obtaining detailed insight in the enzymology of the transformation of synthetic compounds, and the development of improved biocatalysts for such transformations. We study catalytic mechanisms, kinetic properties, and structure-function relationships in enzymes that can be used for chemo-, regio- and enantioselective synthesis reactions. Obtaining new enzymes by genome mining, engineering and high-throughput screening are important parts of our work. We increasingly involve computational methods for guiding enzyme engineering. The discovered and engineered enzymes are explored as biocatalysts for various applications, ranging from the synthesis of enantiopure pharmaceuticals to the preparation of polymer building blocks such as FDCA. Enzyme-based applications are developed in various projects with external partners.
Partner homepage: https://www.rug.nl/staff/m.w.fraaije/research