Prof. Dr. Andreas Liese studied chemistry at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn and carried out his doctoral research at the Research Center Jülich in close collaboration with DSM Research from the Netherlands, receiving his PhD degree in 1998 from the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn. From 1998 to 2003 Liese was assistant professor at the University of Bonn and at the same time head of the Enzyme Group within the Institute of Biotechnology II (Prof. Dr. C. Wandrey), Research Center Jülich. During a sabbatical in 2000 at Pfizer Global Research & Development, San Diego, USA, he initiated a R&D group on biocatalysis. From 2003 to 2004 he worked as an associate professor at the University of Münster, soon receiving a full professorship for Technical Biocatalysis in 2004 at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH). Since then he serves as the director of the Institute of Technical Biocatalysis, which he continues to expand. In 2003 Liese received the award of up-and-coming teacher in higher education in the field of biotechnology (DECHEMA, Germany). He is elected member of the steering committee “Biotechnology” of the DECHEMA e.V. since 2005 and elected member of the steering committee of the German Catalysis Society, GeCatS” since 2009. He authored three books ”Industrial Biotransformations“, ”Biological Principles Applied to Technical Asymmetric Catalysis“ and “Biocatalysis for the Pharmaceutical Industry”) which deal with the processes involved in white (industrial) biotechnology.

The Institute of Technical Biocatalysis belongs to the Faculty of Process and Chemical Engineering at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH). The research involves bioprocess development, non-conventional biotransformations, online reaction analysis, microreaction engineering as well as biodegradation.

A promising field for the future will be the establishment and implementation of bioprocesses in novel process windows, meaning non-conventional reaction conditions. The challenge is to understand selected biological principles as well as processes in chemical terms, to transfer, apply them to and combine them with the traditional concepts of chemical catalysis.

• Non-conventional biotransformations Biocatalysis in high viscous media, Biocatalysis at high pressures up to 3000 bar, Chemoenzymatic reaction sequences
• Bioprocess development Reactor concepts (bubble column, reactive distillation, hollow fiber reactors), Biocatalyst immobilization (new carrier materials)
• Online reaction analysisOnline Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Online fluorescence spectroscopy

There is a need for the development of microreactors and multiplexed methodologies to achieve a fast optimization of reactions catalyzed by different biocatalysts. The use of microreactors with microfluidic streams can facilitate the selection of a specific enzyme and optimum reaction conditions in case of a chosen substrate.

Research Fields:

• Continuous reactions and combined downstream processing
• Enzyme and parameter screening under process conditions
• Site directed mutagenesis for directed enzyme orientation
• Reversible enzyme immobilization and surface interaction
• Immobilization with microfluidic systems
• Time- and space resolved analytics: UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)

Biodegradation is the key to understanding the environmental fate of chemicals released into the environment either intentionally (e.g. pesticides) or accidentally (e.g. oil spills). For many chemicals the biological degradation pathways are not yet known. For others the degradation is only known under certain conditions. Research is conducted to close these gaps in our knowledge, and to find safe solutions for environmental problems.

Research Fields:

• Degradation of mineral oil components at high and low temperatures and high pressure
• The enzymatic production of foaming agents from keratin
• The biotechnological production of high quality bast fibers
• Degradation of odor compounds from food industries
• Degradation of fats at high temperatures
• Degradation of chlorinated hydrocarbons
• Degradation of x-ray contrast agents

The Institute of Technical Microbiology lead by Prof. Garabed Antranikian is known for its research in the field of extremophilic microorganisms. These fascinating prokaryotes are able to withstand and thrive at temperatures between -10 and 122°C, at pH values between 0 and 11, or at salt concentrations up to 30 %. Studying the features enabling life under these conditions and using these organisms for application in white (industrial) biotechnology is the focus of our research.

Research Objectives:

• Isolation, characterization and phylogenetic affiliation of extremophilic bacteria and archaea: psychrophiles, (hyper-)thermophiles, thermoalkaliphiles, thermoacidophiles and halophiles
• Cultivation of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms, physiological studies, metabolism of polymeric natural compounds and optimization of enzyme production
• High throughput screening, purification and biochemical characterization of biocatalysts and bioactive substances from extremophilic microorganisms: amylases, pullulanases, xylanases, cellulases, pectinases, branching enzymes, proteases, lipases, DNA-modifying enzymes, compatible solutes
• Cloning and (over-)expression of genes encoding biocatalysts from extremophiles: genome and metagenome projects, recombinant expression in Gram-positive, eukaryotic, or extremophilic host organisms
• High cell density fermentation and recombinant enzyme production
• DNA chip technology: identification of microbial populations
• Application of extremophilic microorganisms in waste water purification and biogas production from plant residues
• Development of biocatalysts for sustainable biotechnological applications and environmentally friendly processes

Founded in 1986 as one of the first university research institutes in bioprocess and biochemical engineering in Germany, IBB has a long tradition and a wide range of expertise in bioprocess development. Present research focus is on designing novel biocatalysts (enzymes and cells) at the molecular level and developing integrated bioproduction systems for chemicals, fuels and pharmaceuticals from renewable materials. To this end, methods and tools ranging from molecular and pathway design (Synthetic Biology) over modeling (Systems Biology), to integration of bioconversion and product recovery in miniplant under industry-relevant conditions are developed and integrated. Such a molecular and multiscale biosystems engineering approach is demonstrated to be highly efficient in developing several new bioprocesses such as for diols and amino acids.

Research at IBB is done mainly along two lines: 1. Methodology und fundamental studies and 2. Product and process development. In fundamental study the focus is on structure-based synthetic biology for designing enzymes and cells. Methodologically, molecular and multiscale modeling and micro-technologies are incorporated into biocatalyst and bioprocess development.

Bioproducts and bioprocesses studied at IBB include: 1,3-propanediol, optically active 2,3-butanediol, n-butanol, propionic acid, 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde/acrolein, amino acids (e.g L-lysine), microbial polysaccharides (e.g. alginate), bio-H2 and biogas, and recombinant proteins at high cell density with microbial and cell cultures.