Enzymes offer immense potential in unlocking new opportunities for innovative technologies due to their specificity, efficiency, and wide range of applications across various sectors, including industrial processes and biocatalysis. Although India possesses adequate infrastructure for lab-scale enzyme research, it requires prioritized, focused attention on scaling up. Furthermore, with the push for net-zero targets, industrial enzymes global demand will continue to grow in the coming decades due to their inherent benefits across various sectors.
To foster an innovative ecosystem positioning enzyme biomanufacturing as an economically viable and environmentally sustainable solution. To strengthen advanced capabilities and infrastructure in enzyme technology. To develop a robust pipeline of indigenous, affordable enzymes overcoming challenges related to high production costs, efficiency, and scalability.
To foster an innovative ecosystem to establish enzyme biomanufacturing as an economically viable and environmentally sustainable solution, DBT- BIRAC announced a Joint Call for Proposals on ‘Enzymes’ for Fostering High Performance Biomanufacturing under the categories of Discovery & Application-oriented Integrated Network Research & Bridging the Gaps with thrust area for enzymes for the biotransformation of low-cost feedstock into high value functional biomolecules, biomass hydrolyzing enzymes and enzymes for production of Specialty Chemicals / APIs. In this call a total of 180 project proposals were received and in the two DBT-BIRAC Joint Screening-cum-Selection Committee meetings a total of 32 projects were finally recommended for financial support.
These projects advance enzyme biomanufacturing through targeted innovations in synthesis, engineering, and scale-up. Key efforts include improved synthesis of native transglycosylating alpha-glucosidase (a niche food enzyme); scale-up of recombinant fungal cellulase; catalytic transformation of lactose to epilactose via cellobiose 2-epimerase; engineering of thermostable, and efficient insect trehalose synthase; and novel enzymatic processes for bioactive oligosaccharides from cereal arabinoxylan and β-glucan. Additional efforts include plant-derived milk-clotting enzymes from Cucurbita moschata seeds; plant-based production of cellulase, mannanase, and lipase; terpenoid enzyme engineering for designer molecules; optimization and scale-up of indigenous collagenase; cost-effective β-galactosidase bioprocesses using dairy waste; and bioengineering enzymes for linear/branch lacto-N-triose in human milk oligosaccharides for infant formula etc. Furthermore, towards outreach activity, webinar on Biomanufacturing of Enzymes was organized attracting over 450 participants from academia and industry
