NSERC Industrial Biocatalysis Network

石油和天然气通过能源密集型制造过程转化为塑料，化学品和其他工业和消费品。如果这些产品是用农业和林业废物等可再生资源制造的，如果它们是用能源消耗较少的工艺制造的，那么它们在环境上就更可持续。其中一个过程是生物催化，在这个过程中，微生物使用天然或工程酶生产日用化学品、塑料、营养保健品和其他产品，就像细菌已经从牛奶中生产奶酪和酸奶一样。基因组学研究项目正在揭示数千种--可能是数百万种--新的酶，但我们对酶过程的有限理解迄今为止阻碍了它们在工业中的更广泛应用。NSERC工业生物催化网络（IBN）通过聘请优秀的多学科研究人员团队和领先的生物技术公司来解决这个问题，专注于行业相关的酶和生物过程。IBN将通过发现催化新化学反应的新酶，开发工业微生物，利用可再生或低成本材料合成化学品、塑料和其他有价值的产品，从而减少制造业对环境的总体影响。IBN将针对广泛的工业应用，包括食品，动物饲料，合成化学，塑料，采矿和林业。凭借其丰富的自然资源，加拿大很有可能成为新的“生物经济”的领导者，通过IBN的发现将支持新兴的生物基化学和材料部门的增长。

Oil and gas are converted to plastics, chemicals, and other industrial and consumer products through energy-intensive manufacturing processes. These products would be more environmentally sustainable if they were made from renewable resources, such as agricultural and forestry waste, and if they were manufactured using processes that use less energy. One such process is biocatalysis, in which microorganisms produce commodity chemicals, plastics, nutraceuticals and other products using natural or engineered enzymes, much as bacteria already make cheese and yogurt from milk.Genomics research projects are revealing thousands - possibly millions - of new enzymes, but our limited understanding of enzyme processes has hampered their more widespread use in industry thus far. The NSERC Industrial Biocatalysis Network (IBN) addresses this problem by engaging an outstanding multi-disciplinary team of researchers and leading biotechnology companies to focus on industry-relevant enzymes and biological processes. This coordinated research network will mine the immense datasets generated by three previous Canadian genomics projects for industrial applications.The IBN will reduce the overall environmental impact of manufacturing by discovering new enzymes that catalyze new chemical reactions, and developing industrial microorganisms that synthesize commodity chemicals, plastics, and other valuable products from renewable or low-cost materials. The IBN will target a broad range of industrial applications, including food, animal feed, synthetic chemistry, plastics, mining and forestry. With its abundant natural resources, Canada is well placed to be a leader in the new "bio-economy", and the discoveries made through the IBN will support the growth of the emerging bio-based chemical and materials sector.