Biocatalysis and Biosynthesis: Opportunities and Challenges
A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Biocatalysis".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 884
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The demand for greener, sustainable, more selective and energy-efficient manufacturing has positioned biocatalysis at the forefront of modern synthetic chemistry and biotechnology. Exploiting enzymes for synthetic purposes offers unparalleled chemo-, regio- and enantioselectivity while minimizing hazardous waste. Concurrently, advances in metabolic engineering, machine-learning-guided protein design and cell-free biosynthesis are expanding the synthetic space beyond natural pathways, granting access to pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, materials monomers and biofuels that were previously unattainable. Despite impressive progress, key hurdles persist: limited enzyme stability in non-natural environments, cofactor recycling costs, restricted substrate scope, challenging scale-up and regulatory constraints for genetically modified organisms.
This Special Issue assembles original research, mini-reviews and perspectives that address these opportunities and challenges. Topics of interest include:
- Discovery and engineering of novel enzymes using directed evolution, rational mutagenesis or AI-assisted design;
- Immobilized biocatalytic platforms for synthesis;
- Hybrid chemo-enzymatic cascades integrating photocatalysis, electrocatalysis or organocatalysis;
- High-throughput screening, in-line analytics and process intensification strategies;
- Economic, environmental and regulatory analyses of biocatalytic routes versus traditional synthesis.
By uniting molecular biology, chemistry and process engineering, this issue aims to define the next generation of sustainable, bio-based manufacturing technologies.
Dr. Jennifer Noro
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- biocatalysis
- biosynthesis
- enzyme engineering
- sustainable manufacturing
- green chemistry
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