There is an increasing focus on discovering methods to lower the expenses of manufacturing chemicals produced biocatalysis, including advanced pharmaceutical intermediates and pharmaceuticals. A promising solution to achieve this goal is continuous-flow biocatalysis, which intensifies the process. Nevertheless, certain enzyme classes depend on diffusible cofactors, such as the nicotinamide cofactors, which pose a substantial technical and economic challenge. In this presentation, I will present our interdisciplinary strategy for overcoming this obstacle by using chemical modification of cofactors to enable cofactor recycling and retention as part of a modular multienzyme cascade. I will also touch on our recent efforts to reduce the cost of producing new cascades by investigating facile and scalable cofactor modification chemistry.
Colin Scott is a microbial biochemist and synthetic biologist who works for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the government research organization in Australia. He completed his BSc in genetics in 1996 at Aberystwyth in Wales and his PhD in 2000 at Sheffield University's Krebs Institute in England. In 2004, Scott joined CSIRO for a project focused on engineering enzymes to remove environmental pesticide contaminants, which won the DuPont Innovation Award in 2006. He has held several senior leadership positions at CSIRO, including director of the Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform, director of the Advanced Engineering Biology Future Science Platform, and director of the CSIRO BioFoundry. Currently, he is an Adjunct Research Fellow at Sydney University and Murdoch University, and an Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology. Scott's research interests lie in discovering and engineering microbes and their enzymes for use in industrial and environmental applications. He has been granted over a dozen patents and led projects that resulted in commercial outcomes for companies such as RisingStar Biotechnologies in China, the compostable plastics company Enzide in Australia, and The Coca-Cola Company in the US
