Techniques developed by enzymologists and protein chemists have been indispensible in many areas of biotechnology. Bio-separation of proteins, biocatalyst engineering and medium engineering are important examples of this. Our understanding of enzyme specificity has helped us in gaining insight into catalytic promiscuity. This, along with the possibility of carrying out biocatalysis in organic solvents has widened the scope of using enzymes for organic synthesis.Reestablishing a strong base in enzymology is crucial towards creating a strong base for the field of biotechnology in India.
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IntroductionQuite a few aspects of biotechnology involve production and applications of enzymes. In the old days, most of these aspects were covered under industrial enzymology (Godfrey and Reichelt, 1983). Gradually, a more broad based term 'applied biocatalysis' came into vogue (Straathof and Adlercreutz, 2000) which was an interface between enzymology and biochemical engineering. This phase was characterized by few new developments: (1) As a result of the rDNA technology, our capability to produce mutant properties grew exponentially. There was a scramble to produce proteins at a lower cost. The stakes were no longer limited to low cost industrial grade enzymes. Costlier proteins used in molecular biology, diagnostics and biosensors and pharmaceutical proteins/enzymes could be produced by cloning and their properties tailored to suit the applications. The result was a paradigm shift in the downstream processing methods. Shorter and efficient protocols emerged. Affinity chromatography, rather than being a 'polishing' step at the end, was promoted to the earlier steps of purification. In fact, upstream and downstream processing steps were integrated (Gupta, 2002;Przybycien et al., 2004;Mondal et al., 2006). (2) It was realized that enzymes could be used in non aqueous media (Carrea and Riva 2000; Gupta 2000;Patel 2000; Vulfson et al., 2001). This opened up novel applications; especially in the synthesis of chiral compounds. Table 1 lists some of the milestones in the area of applied biocatalysis.It is remarkable how much enzymology contributed to all this.The present review attempts to emphasize the importance of the skills which are part of the toolbox Published Online on 10 December 2015
1114Munishwar Nath Gupta and Joyeeta Mukherjee et al., 1973; Mosbach 1976 Mosbach , 1980 Nilsson and Mosbach 1981; Mattiasson 1983;Mattiasson 1988) Berezin's group in Moscow was the third one (Berezin 1978; Mozhaev et al., 1987;Martinek and Mozhaev 1993). Current work is adequately discussed at many places ( Enzyme deactivation models Most people wrongly give half lives without analysing the kinetics of deactivation. Sadana's work needs to be known more widely. (Sadana 1991(Sadana , 1993 Enzymes as reverse micelles This is another approach in low water enzymology. (Luisi 1985; Larsson et al., 1987; Adlercreutz et al., 1988) Enzyme use in biosensors Immobilization allows enzymes to interface with transducers. (Yarapolov et al...