Ultra high throughput selection of enzymes by Terahertz Chemical Microscope

Enzymes are becoming important industrial catalysts, especially for “green” manufacturing. As a consequence, much interest currently exists in identifying ways to optimize the catalytic properties of enzymes to make the manufacturing process more efficient. One way to do this is to create many variants of the original enzyme, each differing slightly in structure, and then screening the efficiency with which they catalyze the desired reaction. This, however, is a very labor intensive approach that limits the number of individual variants that can be tested, ultimately lowering the chances of identifying very reactive enzymes. This project will evaluate a recent Japanese invention, the THz Chemical Microscope (TCM), as a means of simultaneously measuring the activity of many individual enzymes. Should the proof-of-concept sought out in this project be obtained, the TCM could dramatically increase the number of enzyme variants that can be analyzed in a day. This would pave the way for creating new high performance enzymes for future “green” manufacturing processes.

Faculty Supervisor:

Marc André Gauthier

Student:

Partner:

Okayama University

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

University:

Université du Québec : Institut national de la recherche scientifique

Program:

Globalink Research Award