The production of industrial and research enzymes often faces key challenges such as low yields, expensive purification steps, and limited enzyme stability. These issues increase production costs and restrict the scalability of enzymatic processes. To overcome this, the research team of Applied Biotechnology laboratory in Ruminant Production Program at the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA) have developed a recombinant enzyme platform that optimizes production efficiency and simplifies downstream processing.
The team has developed an optimized procedure for producing a wide variety of recombinant enzymes tailored to specific industrial needs. They can manufacture both standard enzymes and fully customized proteins, genetically engineered to incorporate multiple functional domains. This allows the combination of several functionalities within a single molecule, which in turn simplifies industrial processes and enhances product efficiency. Their work focuses primarily on expression systems based on microorganisms such as E. coli and L. lactis, as well as yeast strains like P. pastoris, selected for their proven safety and efficiency in the production of functional enzymes, proteins, and also active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The three manufacturing methods are intracellular, extracellular secretion and nanoparticle production.
Benefits of this technology:
- It enables the design of protein variants with modulated properties according to the required effect, incorporating multiple domains within a single molecule.
- A versatile, flexible, and highly efficient platform.
- It facilitates the production and industrial-scale manufacturing of recombinant enzymes.
- The process can be reproduced at large volumes under controlled conditions, ensuring full traceability.
- Suitable for a wide range of industries and applications including degradation of mycotoxins in feed and agricultural raw materials, improvement of animal health through the incorporation of functional enzymes into feed, reduction of antibiotic residues in matrices such as milk, with applications in food safety and industrial processing, and production of customized dietary supplements and fermented products.
The main objective of this contact is to identify biotechnology companies interested in the services offered by the research team, as well as in improving their internal processes through the proposed platform. The group aims to validate the industrial viability of its system by collaborating with interested companies to develop and launch new products based on specific enzymes.
Institution: Instituto de Investigación y Tecnologías Agroalimentarias (IRTA)
Contacto: Elisa Sáenz / e.saenz@viromii.com