Research Unit

Research Group Crossing Biological Membranes

Acronym
BioPort
Duration
01 October 2015 → Ongoing
Group leader
Other information
Research disciplines
  • Natural sciences
    • Membrane structure and transport
  • Engineering and technology
    • Industrial microbiology
    • Industrial biotechnology not elsewhere classified
Description
"Industrial biotechnology relies on nature’s tool set and converts bacteria, yeast and fungi into microbial cell factories to generate value-added products such as biological detergents, chemical building blocks, food additives, pharmaceuticals and biofuels.In the past decades themes such as synthetic biology and metabolic engineering gained momentum and were also introduced in industrial biotechnology, opening doors for synthesis of compounds non-natural to the host. Yet, here some limitations are met; in many cases problems are encountered to get the compound out of the cell resulting in toxic effects, low yields and additional processing costs.To intensify industrial biotechnological processes, it’s important to understand and exploit the mechanisms of transport into and out of cells. This is where the BioPort team of Prof. Van Bogaert is focusing on."