Technical Research Centre of Finland, Industrial Biotechnology

Technical Research Centre of Finland

Director: Research Professor Hans Söderlund
tel. +358 9 456 5104
fax  +358 9 455 2103
hans.soderlund(at)vtt.fi

This research programme aims to generate means for the utilisation of renewable natural resources, to increase their value and to develop environmentally friendly industrial processes. The Unit will specifically focus on the enzymatic bioconversion of carbohydrates and lignocellulose into valuable products in vivo and in vitro.

In order to reach this aim, the Unit will be using and developing some of the most powerful tools in modern biotechnology. These include mutagenesis and gene shuffling linked to protein display and high-throughput screening; metabolic pathway engineering and physiological engineering linked to selection and to the transcriptional and translational profiling; and the integration of these molecular level approaches to biochemical engineering to ensure the applicability of the results.

The Unit's research teams and their primary interests are as follows:
- Protein production (Dr. Sirkka Keränen): integrated design for improved production of secreted proteins by eukaryotic microbes, yeasts and filamentous fungi.
- Molecular recognition (Dr. Kristiina Takkinen): the improvement and utilisation of highly specific interactions between proteins and ligands.
- Enzyme technology (Research Professor Liisa Viikari and Kristiina Kruus): the development of oxidative enzymes and enzyme-based processes to promote cleaner production technologies and to improve the utilisation of renewable raw materials.
- Metabolic pathway engineering (Research Professor Merja Penttilä): the engineering of metabolic routes in microbes to achieve efficient production hosts for the conversion of low-value resources into useful compounds.

The Unit has a personnel of around 30.

Centre of Excellence pages