Enzyme engineering is a scientific technology that puts enzymes or microbial cells, animal and plant cells, organelles, etc. in a certain biological reaction device, and then use the biocatalytic function of the enzyme to transform the corresponding raw materials into useful substances and apply them to social life with the help of engineering means. It includes the preparation of enzyme preparations, enzyme immobilization, enzyme modification and transformation, and enzyme reactors. The application of enzyme engineering is mainly concentrated in the food industry, light industry and pharmaceutical industry.
The Development History of Enzyme Engineering
After the 1970s, with the production of the second generation of enzymes—immobilized enzymes and related technologies, enzyme engineering has truly entered the stage of history. Immobilized enzymes are increasingly becoming the main force in industrial production, playing a huge role in the fields of chemical medicine, light industry, food, and environmental protection. In addition, a more powerful third-generation enzyme has been produced, which is an immobilized multi-enzyme system including a cofactor regeneration system. It is becoming the protagonist of enzyme engineering applications.
We all know that the content of enzymes in organisms is limited. No matter what kind of enzymes, the concentration in cells will not be very high. This is also due to the need for the balance adjustment of biological organisms' life activities. However, this limits the possibility of directly using natural enzymes to solve many chemical reactions more effectively.
Main Uses of Enzyme Engineering
As a kind of biocatalyst, enzyme has been widely used in various production fields of light industry. In recent decades, with the continuous technological breakthroughs of enzyme engineering, it has become more and more widely used in industry, agriculture, medicine and health, energy development and environmental engineering. The application of enzyme engineering is mainly concentrated in the food industry, light industry and pharmaceutical industry. Enzyme-added laundry powder and meat tenderizer, which are common in our daily life, are the most direct manifestations of enzyme engineering.
1. Application in food processing
The largest use of enzymes in the food industry is starch processing, followed by dairy processing, fruit juice processing, baked goods and beer fermentation. Various related enzymes such as amylase, glucose isomerase, lactase, chymosin, protease, etc. account for more than half of the enzyme preparation market
2. Application in light chemical industry
The use of enzyme engineering in the light chemical industry mainly includes: detergent manufacturing, fur industry, gelatin manufacturing, collagen fiber manufacturing, toothpaste and cosmetics production, papermaking, photosensitive material production, waste water treatment and feed processing.
3. Medical applications
Recombinant DNA technology has promoted the large-scale production of various medically valuable enzymes. The variety of various enzymes used in clinical practice is gradually increasing. In addition to being used for conventional treatment, enzymes can also play a medical role as some components of medical engineering. For example, in extracorporeal circulation devices, enzymes are used to remove blood waste, prevent thrombosis, and enzyme-controlled drug release systems in the body. In addition, enzymes, as clinical in vitro detection reagents, can quickly, sensitively and accurately determine certain metabolites in the body, which will also be an important application of enzymes in medical treatment.
4. Energy development
Under the general trend of developing new energy sources in the world, the use of microorganisms or enzyme engineering technology to produce fuel from living organisms is also a new way that people are exploring. For example, the use of raw materials such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and starch in plant, agricultural crops, and forestry product wastes to produce gaseous fuels such as hydrogen and methane, and liquid fuels such as ethanol and methanol.
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