Research
Research at Pure and Applied Biochemistry
The research activities cover a broad area, such as protein engineering, plant molecular biology, affinity and separation techniques, biomaterials, bioprocess control, biosensors, construction of organic polymers with enzyme-like properties (imprinting), bioanalysis, environmental and industrial biotechnology, crop biotechnology, and biomedical nutrition. The hallmark of the Division is its diversified research that generates considerable synergistic effects that are manifested by the many new techniques and concepts originating from the laboratory. Several of these are marketed by various biotechnology companies.
Biomedical nutrition
Biomedical Nutrition conducts research on the role of food composition for the health effects of foods on the consumer. The emphasis is put on dietary fibre, antioxidants including antioxidant enzymes and other bioactive compounds in milk, cereals and other plant foods.
Bioseparation group
We have traditionally studied and developed new types of bioseparation materials, characterized by their efficient mass transfer properties. Examples are (sub)micron-sized fibers, superporous particles, core – shell particles, monoliths and composites. An additional, recent interest is the development of new techniques for studying the catalytic properties of isolated, single enzyme molecules.
Gene group
The research primarily involves different aspects of proteins and nucleic acids. Gene technology is an important tool in our research group in order to produce recombinant proteins or for protein engineering. The proteins has potential use in medical, biomaterial, nanotechnological, enivironmental and agricultural applications. We are also working in devloping new chromatographic separation technologies.
Functional Polymers and Biointerfaces
Our research is focused on development of functional polymers for chemical and biochemical applications. Synthetic polymers with tailor-designed molecular recognition and stimuli-responsive properties are being developed for bioseparation, catalysis and chemical sensing. We also use nanoparticles as building blocks to construct multifunctional assemblies such as colloidosomes and hybrid materials for various applications. Other research activities include nanoimprint lithography, electrospinning, surface characterization, and transition metal catalysis in collaboration with other laboratories.
Environmental Biotechnology
Pre-treatment of sludge and its utilization as renewable material for the production bio-fuels, biodegradable polymers, bio-pesticides/bio-fertilizers and from laboratory scale to industrial scale.
Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-based technology; tailored extraction of bioactive compounds from different biological materials, enzymatic reactions and polymerisation using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide.