Binju Wang News Today

Using energy from light to activate natural enzymes can help scientists create new-to-nature enzymatic reactions that support eco-friendly biomanufacturing — the production of fuels, plastics, and valuable chemicals from plants or other biological systems. Applying this photoenzymatic approach, CABBI researchers have developed a clean, efficient way to synthesize crucial chemical building blocks known as chiral amines, solving a longstanding challenge in synthetic chemistry.

Using energy from light to activate natural enzymes can help scientists create new-to-nature enzymatic reactions that support eco-friendly biomanufacturing.

One of the most crucial challenges in copper-dependent metalloenzymes is dioxygen activation. Copper-dependent metalloenzymes, along with lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), particulate methane monooxygenases (pMMOs), and the binuclear copper enzymes PHM and DBM, can conduct a variety of complex C-H/O-H bond activations when activated by O2.