Polymer Chemistry

Bio catalysis in Polymer Chemistry

Bio catalytic pathways to Polymeric Materials are an emerging research area with not only enormous scientific and technological promise, but also a tremendous impact on environmental issues. Whole cell biocatalysts have been exploited for thousands of years. Historically biotechnology was manifested in skills such as the manufacture of wines, beer, cheese etc., where the techniques were well worked out and reproducible, while the biochemical mechanism was not well-understood. While the chemical, economic and social advantages of bio catalysis over traditional chemical approaches were recognized a long time ago, their application in industrial production processes have been largely neglected until recent break-through in modern biotechnology (such as robust protein expression systems, directed evolution etc).