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Biochemical Engineering Laboratory

• Biotechnology or Biochemical Engineering refers to the discipline or technology which uses biological functions and information to process and produce the materials and services necessary for mankind. Biotechnology contributes to the effective production of medicines, cosmetics, biochemicals, biofuels, agricultural products, etc. through such techniques as gene recombination, enzyme engineering, metabolic pathway synthesis and (re)design that artificially manipulate the biological functions. It also contributes to removal and controlling of environmental pollution by utilizing the abilities of microorganisms and enzymes.
• Biotechnology is classified into three major categories according to the application fields: Red Biotechnology, White Biotechnology, and Green Biotechnology. We mainly focus on the production of various chemicals and fuels which belongs to White Biotechnology, also called Industrial Biotechnology. Industrial Biotechnology aims at Bio-refinery which is compared to traditional (crude) oil-refinery. Similar to oil-refinery, bio-refinery can be operated in an integrated manner to produce various chemicals and fuels simultaneously. Process integration in bio-refinery enables cost-effective use of raw materials and energy, as in the case of oil-refinery. However, unlike oil-refinery, bio-refinery is environment-friendly and sustainable; thus bio-refinery is considered a ‘good’ technology which does not give burdens to our planet and our future generations to come. Bio-refinery changes the paradigm of the present fossil-based economy into the bio-based one.
• The main focus of our laboratory lies on the production of industrially important organic acids, alcohols and lactones. These compounds are difficult or less desirable to produce by conventional chemical methods due to economical and/or environmental issues or specific market demand requiring biotechnological production. For example, when these chemicals are used as cosmetic ingredients or personal care products, biological production is much more preferred in market. In order to effectively produce these compounds by microorganisms, appropriate microbial catalysts (strains and enzymes) are developed by using recombinant DNA technology, metabolic engineering, enzymatic engineering, synthetic biology, bioinformatics, etc. All research is aimed at commercialization, and with a close collaboration with Noru Holdings Co., Ltd. and GS Caltex Co., Ltd. The compounds to be developed are as follows.
• 1. 3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP): 3-HP is an organic acid with three carbon atoms and two functional groups. It is widely used for the production of daily necessities such as diapers, environment-friendly paints and biodegradable polymers. 3-HP is a typical platform chemical that can be converted into many chemical compounds including acrylic acid by simple chemical reaction. Current world market of acrylic acid is over 10 trillion won (10 billion USD) annually.
• 2. 1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PDO): 1,3-PDO is a three-carbon compound with two alcohol functional groups. It is used to produce foods, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products and textile products. In particular, demand for cosmetics and polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) has increased significantly. The global market size is known as about 1.0 billion USD.
• 3. Gamma-lactones: Lactones are cyclic esters and are used in fine chemical products such as foods, cosmetics, medicinal pesticides, and as materials and solvents for electronic materials. It is possible to produce lactones in optically pure enantiomers by biotechnology, and its use in the field of fine chemicals is greatly expanded.
• More information on biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, and biorefinery can be found at the following website.
• 1. Biotechnology General :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotechnology
• 2. General Biotechnology : http://www.ucl.ac.uk/biochemeng/about/excitement.pdf
• 3. Industrial Biotech: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_of_biotechnology
• 4. Bio Refineries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorefinery
• BCE laboratory has close collaborations with the following laboratories:
• 1. Noroo Holdings Central Research Institute (Director Dr. Shim Jung-Yeop). http://www.norooholdings.com/
• 2. Professor Sung Kuk Lee. Synthetic Biology Lab., School of Energy and Chemical Eng., UNIST. https://sites.google.com/site/skleelab/
• 3. Professor Yong Hwan Kim. Enzyme and Protein Engineering Lab., School of Energy and Chemical Eng., UNIST. https://sites.google.com/site/enzproyh/
• 4. Professor Gyoo Yeol Jung. Molecular Diagnosis and Synthetic Biology Lab., School of Chemical Engineering, POSTECH. http://mdsb.postech.ac.kr/
• 5. Professor Tae Hyun Yoo. Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University. http://www.spelajou.kr/Tae_Hyeon_Yoo/SPEL.html
• 6. Professor Kyung Jin Kim. Department of Biotechnology, Kyungpook National University. http://biotech.knu.ac.kr/
• 7. Professor Sun-Gu Lee. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Eng., Pusan National University. http://chemeng.pusan.ac.kr/chemeng/15714/subview.do