NEW BIOCATALYSTS:

ESSENTIAL TOOLS
FOR A SUSTAINABLE
21st CENTURY
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Sponsored by
Altus
Genencor International, Inc.
Cargill, Inc.
Chevron
Council for Chemical Research
DSM
E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.
Maxygen
U.S. Department of Commerce,
NIST/ATP
U.S. Department of Defense,
Office of Naval Research
U.S. Department of Energy, Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy,
Office of Industrial Technologies
Utah State University
Biotechnology Center
Facilitation by Energetics, Inc.

Sponsors

Council for
Chemical Research

Table of Contents

Section I. Executive Summary

Section II. Introduction

Section III. The Visioning Process and Drivers

Section IV. The Present State of Biocatalysts

13

Section V. The Workshop

19

Section VI. Implementation

27

Section VII. Success Factors in Implementing

the R & D in the Roadmap

33

Appendix A

34

Appendix B

36

List of Participants

37

Contact Information

38

Acknowledgments
We wish to thank the sponsors listed on the front cover for their support,
without which this workshop could not have taken place nor could this
report have been written. Special thanks to Genencor for use of their
facilities and to Jack Huttner, Richard LaDuca, Jim Sjoerdsma, and Nancy
Shaw for their hospitality.
The authors thank the planning group and participants in the workshop
for their many suggestions and careful review of the several drafts.
Special credit is due Brian Davison and David Boron for their contributions and graphics.
Technical assistance by Mary Donahue, graphic designer, and Georgia
Herod, editor, was superb. Pamela Garcia served as the workshop secretariat and did an excellent job in a complex organizational task.
Finally, we wish to thank you, our reader, for your attention and ask that
you join us in working toward making biocatalysts all they can be.
William H. Scouten
Gene Petersen

About the cover. . .

The design of this report was based
on the ideas of a new generation
and sustainablity, along with the use
of the core structure of an amino acid
(creative childs play and serious
science), a motif used throughout the
interior of the report.
The cover photos represent the past
chemical industry (chemical plant),
the hopes of a greener industry
(plants in field) and the future (a
young child with a molecular
structure.) Our model, Liam, was
born in March of 1999 and is 1 1/2
years old at the time this report is
published. He represents the next
generation who will benefit from our
efforts.
This report seeks to define vision and
strategic plans for the chemical
industry into the year 2020, the same
year Liam will be 21 years old.
(photos courtesy of National Renewable Energy Lab
and Mary Donahue.)

Section I. Executive Summary

Background
This report represents the November, 1999 workshop efforts and subsequent contributions of 50 leading scientific and industry experts in biocatalyst use and development. The goal was to produce a roadmap, or
strategic plan, for developing and utilizing a new generation of
biocatalysts for the 21st Century. The focus of the work group was on the
very complex chemical industry and such chemistry-related areas as the
pharmaceutical and environmental sciences.
Biocatalyst technology, as a part of a broader chemical biotechnology, is
increasingly important as a tool for chemical synthesis. Its application is
driven by consumer demand for new products and by industrial attempts
at increasing profits and cost reduction, as well as government and
regulatory pressures and new technologies and scientific discovery.
Current applications of biocatalysts include the production of high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, semi-synthetic penicillins and award-winning
cancer drugs.
Despite these examples of biocatalyst applications, biocatalysts cannot
reach their potential without a concerted effort on the part of industry,
non-profit and government funding agencies, and academic and national
lab scientists. The contributors to this plan defined the goals needed to
reach this potential, analyzed technical barriers and problems to be
surmounted, and formulated an initial plan to implement the resulting
program.

Goals
Biocatalyst program goals include traditional chemical industry goals to
reduce material, water and energy consumption and pollutant dispersal
by 30% in the next two decades. More specifically, with respect to
biocatalysts, the goals include:
developing biocatalysts which are better, faster and
cheaper than current chemical catalysts
development of a tool box of biocatalysts, i.e.,
biocatalysts that can catalyze a broader range of reactions
and have greater versatility than is now possible
increased temperature stability, activity, and solvent
compatibility
developing molecular modeling to permit rapid de novo
design of new enzymes
creating better tools for new biocatalyst development
educating the public to the societal benefits of using and
creating biocatalysts

Barriers to overcome
Technical barriers to be overcome include:
a limited knowledge of enzyme/biocatalyst mechanisms
poor understanding of metabolic pathways for secondary
metabolites, including pathway interactions
a limited number of methods to engineer whole
organisms, i.e., metabolic engineering
the high cost of producing many enzymes and co-factors
for biocatalyst application

Implementation
The goal of the implementation efforts is to increase the awareness of
various constituencies as to the value and benefits of the study and development of new and more efficient biocatalysts. Specific activities will
include:
developing performance indicators for evaluating the
success of these efforts
establishing an executive steering committee for monitoring and promoting the development and use of
biocatalysts
presenting the roadmap to appropriate trade organizations and professional societies
increasing the awareness of the value that biocatalysts
can have commercially to industrial leaders and appropriate federal agencies
promoting an understanding of the opportunities and
challenges of biocatalyst development by basic scientists
and the agencies which fund them

Conclusion
Substantially increased emphasis on biocatalyst development is an important goal for chemistry-related industries. This needs to be supported by a
broad and concerted effort by those who understand the opportunities
and challenges that the creation of a new generation of environmentally
friendly, profitable and diverse biocatalysts will bring. All groups concernedconsumers, industrialists, environmentalists and scientists, to
name a fewwill benefit in a very significant way.

A Feedstock-Driven Systems
Approach to Roadmapping Biotechnology
FEEDSTOCK

BIOPROCESSING

5
PRODUCT

FERMENTATION
GAS

LIQUID

SOLID

R
R
R

B
I
O
C
A
T
A
L
Y
S
T

B
I
O
R
E
A
C
T
O
R

P
R
O
D
U
C
T

R
E
C
O
V
E
R
Y

ENZYMATIC

FEEDSTOCK
Gas
-Syn Gas
-CO2
-Organic Vapors
Liquid
-Organic
-Sugar Solution
Solid
-Biomass
-Consumer Waste

BIOPROCESS
Immobilized Enzymes
-Ambient to Extreme
Fermentation
-Immobilized
-Free Cell
-Ambient to Extreme
Reactors
-Continuous Systems
-Membrane
-Batch or CSTR

R
R
R
R
R

PRODUCT
LINES

MARKET
Separation
-In situ
-Secondary
Media
-Gaseous
-Aqueous
-Organic

Pharmaceutical
Fine Chemicals
Specialty Chemicals
Feedstock
Bulk

Section II. Introduction

Why Have a Bioprocessing/Biotechnology

Work Group and a Biocatalysis Strategic
Plan?
This report represents the work of over 50 leading scientific and industry
experts in biocatalyst use and development who attended a two-day
workshop in November, 1999, as well as subsequent contributions. The
goal of the workshop was to produce a roadmap, or strategic plan, for
developing and utilizing a whole new generation of biocatalysts for the
21st Century.
A summary of the results of this conference is outlined in the Executive
Summary and detailed in Section III of this report. The present section
seeks to describe the setting in which the conference took place. Of
particular importance are these questions:
Why do we have a work group on bioprocessing and biotechnology as
part of the chemical industrys visioning, or strategic planning,
process?and
Why do we begin with a plan for developing new biocatalysts as the
first output from the workgroup?
To understand this, we will first begin with a sketch of the Vision 2020
process in the chemical industry and relate a little about the complexity of
the industry with the aim that the reader will sense both the significance
of the process and the difficulty of the task. Finally, we will outline the
results of the workshop and the conversation within the industry that we
hope, and expect, will follow.

Nature of the chemical industry

The chemical industry is both diverse and complex and the entire chemical enterprise, consisting chiefly of industry, academics, and federal and
national laboratories, possesses even greater diversity. All three major
sectors do basic research, applied research, and development in varying
degrees, depending on the philosophy and objectives of the particular
company, organization or institution. This is certainly true for catalysis,
in general, and biocatalysis, in particular. Typically, industry
carries out more of the development and deployment efforts
while academics tend to focus on the basic research problems. However, no absolute division of who does what
exists as industry conducts its own basic research and some
universities and federal laboratories often carry out
precompetitive R&D designed to enhance or lead to
commercial applications.

8
This diversity within the chemical enterprise enhances the economy and
security of the country. The Chemical Manufacturers Association reports
that the $419 billion industry produces over 70,000 products and employs
over one million persons. The industry, one of the top three exporting
industries in the country, strengthens our worldwide competitiveness.
This performance doesnt even include the pharmaceutical industry that
is, in many ways, an applied area of chemistry. This fine chemical industry faces many of the same research needs as commodity chemicals but
has more involvement in biocatalysis and biocatalysts.
Environmental issues are very important to the industry. Reducing
pollution has been a major concern leading to the development of a whole
new mindset based on green chemistry, that is, chemistry which is
friendly to the environment, minimizes waste, reduces energy utilization
and often favors renewable resources over petroleum-based feedstocks. A
major goal, then, for research in the industry is the development of
processes and products that minimize waste, CO2 emissions, and energy
utilization. The sustainable uses of our resources, whether fossil-based or
biobased renewables, is a consideration in the chemical industry and
enterprise.
Chemical biotechnology is the rapidly growing application of biotechnology to chemical production. It often goes hand-in-hand with green
chemistry and the use of renewable feedstocks. Other applications of
biotechnology lead to new products, new manufacturing methods and
improved economics with lesser demand for energy, or fewer negative or
deleterious impacts on the environment.
Chemical biotechnology has made a big impact in the industry structure
as firms have been acquired, divested, and restructured around various
biochemical innovations. Biotechnology is very pervasive in the food
industry e.g., enzymes for starch manufacturing, beverage production,
meat preservatives, etc. Many more impacts in the food industry are
certain to come from use of biotechnology. A high level of uncertainty
exists in biotechnology relative to recombinant foods and the impact of
genetic engineering on crops, but much of this uncertainty is being
addressed with facts and information that demonstrate food safety and
safe practices in farming in the U.S. The perceptions abroad are not as
favorable. Pharmaceutical use of biotechnology is virtually assured; even
though policy issues related to biomaterials, textiles and similar products
have yet to be addressed, these areas seem to be on a reasonably firm
base.
In the past, initial reactions led to great caution in applying recombinant
DNA technology to real world problems. This caution has subsided as
understanding of the technologys benefits has increased. Similarly, the
use of biotechnology in industry may go through a cautious phase only to
blossom as a new, and even more widely accepted, positive force for
mankind. Indeed the history of the entire Industrial Revolution may be
looked upon as a model for the future of the biotechnological revolution.

Section III. The Visioning Process and Drivers

his strategic plan or roadmap is one of several that have or

will be prepared to address key areas of research in the
chemical industry. This contrasts with the visioning process in
other industries, e.g., aluminum or glass, where a single visioning process
and a single roadmap may easily suffice to describe the most relevant
research needs, and barriers, in the industry.
The difference, of course, is that the chemical industry is very unlike such
monolithic industries as aluminum or glass. Indeed, chemicals consists
of both small companies with a limited number of products and a smaller
number of large multi-national companies with hundreds of products,
processes and intermediates. The relationship between chemical companies is often symbiotic with suppliers supplying end users, intermediate
producers or even their own suppliers. Some companies even integrate
their feedstock supply, production, and use functions. However, the
greatest majority of companies operate in the horizontal industrial mode
and maximize their capabilities and strengths in their own niches in order
to produce a slate of products which they can sell.
Visioning for the chemical industry is further complicated by the problem
of definition. Should petrochemicals be included? Are agriculturally
derived chemicals a product of the chemical industry? And while pharmaceuticals are really fine chemicals, the nature of pharmaceutical
markets and the financial behemoth they represent often cause analysts to
consider them separately from fine chemical manufacturing, such as that
used in dye making or as fuel or plastic additives.
Definitions. The definitions of chemical research, biotechnology,
chemistry-based industries, and even the chemical industry can be,
and are, hotly debated. No matter how we define these areas now, it is
agreed by many that the changes that we will see in the next two decades
will so revolutionize our industry that it will not seem recognizable to a
visitor from the year 1999. We will address here the impact that biotechnology and bioprocessing will make, since this will create new definitions
for what will be a new industry.

The coming decade

The maturation of technology from scientific breakthroughs to commercial application follows the same kind of growth as microorganisms. The long research and development cycle leads
to implementation at small scales followed by large scale,
mature production. Biotechnology, as we are seeing it applied
today, had very few applications after the seminal discoveries
about 1974. In the 1980s, the health industry, particularly
pharmaceuticals, found value in the technology and
began to employ it extensively. Now several biotechnol-

10
ogy-produced pharmaceutical products are entrenched in production.
Large-scale commodity food chemicals such as ethanol, high fructose
corn syrup, citric acid, and amino acids also employ microbes or enzymes. However, the inroads into commodity chemical production lags
far behind these other chemical applications. Therefore, in an overall
sense, biotechnology, in many aspects, is still in its infancy and growing
like a teen-age youth in other areas.
It is clear that the use of biotechnology has not been fully realized. Even
so, the industry still boasts some very impressive facts vis--vis societal
and financial impacts.
In 1999, the biotechnology industry accounted for $13.4
billion in sales and $18.6 billion in revenues.
There are over 1,280 biotech companies in the United
States.
The industry represents a $97 billion investment market,
employs more than 153,000 people in high-wage, highvalue jobs, and accounts for over $9 billion in research and
development.
There are more than 90 biotechnology drug products and
vaccines helping more than 200 million people worldwide.
Biotechnology is responsible for hundreds of medical
diagnostic tests.
Biotechnology has brought nutrition and health improvements to foods such as corn, soybeans, tomatoes, carrots,
and peppers.
Biotechnology has augmented the efficient and effective
clean-up of hazardous wastes and spills.
DNA fingerprinting is a biotech process which has
dramatically improved criminal investigation.
In the health-related fields where biotechnology has had its greatest
commercial impact, cause-oriented groups tend to raise fewer problems
everyone is in favor of technology that delivers life-saving therapies.
Thus the development of cancer fighting biologics, i.e. protein and
nucleic acid therapeutics, has been widely heralded. Of importance to the
chemical enterprise and chemical research is that this acceptance has
created a commercial incubator for techniques that are being and will
continue to be applied to, and transform, even the core chemical industry. These successes, combined with advances in the basic sciences underlying biotechnology, are already being felt. These include advances in
aspects of the industry that are commodity-driven, ranging from soaps
and detergents to textiles and synthetic fibers. These advances also
embrace green chemistry, which is driven by energy and environmental
concerns. As energy and/or environmental factors, including global
warming and the carbon cycle, are increasingly emphasized, it is hard to
see how any part of the industry will be unaffected, from desulfurization
of fuels to bio-remediation of wastes, from steel production to ore refineries.

11
Such optimistic and glowing generalizations must, of course, be backed
by concrete examples. The literature, e.g. Trends in Biotechnology, Biotechnology Progress, or Biotechnology & Bioengineering (the highest impact
factor journal in biochemical engineering for the past three decades) and
international journals such as Nature Biotechnology, is replete with promising ideas to replace traditional synthetic chemistry with biotechnologybased chemistry, e.g., plants as factories, combinatorial phage display,
and abzymes, synzymes, and newzymes (enzymes altered to have
unique catalytic properties). Already the term metabolic engineering is
replacing genetic engineering and functional genomics is replacing
genomics as common buzzwords. Chirality is all-important in the field
of health-care products, and enzymatic chiral resolution, although by no
means new, is a prime application for new biocatalysts.

Driving forces for biocatalyst development

Four major forces drive biocatalyst technology in chemical-based
industries.
1) Societal forces Society is constantly demanding new technologies, new products, and new ways of living. Examples include health
products such as biosensors, tissue plasminogen activator (TPA), and
Epogen, and commodity items such as stain-removing detergents,
preworn-looking blue jeans, and reduced-calorie food products. Society
also demands that technology development includes minimal environmental impact.
2) Business forces Profit/cost reduction drives many of the new
changes. Will a biocatalyst give the same, or better, product at a lower
cost? Are there good solutions to the problem of the high cost of isolating
bioproducts in downstream processing? Active efforts in bioseparation
systems are being undertaken to drive down the cost of biocatalysts to
make them competitive with classic inorganic/organic catalysts. Also,
business and economic demands are now requiring that better technologies be developed for selection and production of relatively cheap enzymes.
3) Government-, regulatory-, and cause-driven forces Concerns
about greenhouse gases, especially CO2, will drive new closed carbon
cycle methods, e.g., fine organic chemicals produced by metabolic
engineering of crops. High laurate canola and corn are examples of how
agricultural approaches to using whole organisms as biocatalysts create a
product that would be energy intensive and likely yield more greenhouse
gases if it were produced from petroleum (this postulate is still being
evaluated by life cycle studies but generally appears to be true). The
issue of genetically modified organisms will likely lead to regulatory
pressures to completely characterize biocatalysts for efficacy and safety.
Government policies already favor the use of biocatalytic processes for

12
producing fuel ethanol, but such policies could change.
4) Basic research pressures Significant industrial and practical technologies result from the search of basic science for truth and discovery. These
just because its there discoveries often lead to huge advances or potentially impactful advances. Examples include polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) technology, which was designed for multiplying minute quantities
of genetic information for research purposes but is now employed to
produce useful genetic libraries for plant, animal, and microbial species or
for forensic diagnostics. DNA sequencing was designed to help researchers decode genetic information, but with the advent of improved methods, the sequencing of the human genome and other important crops and
species could lead to new health therapies or improved crop production.
Genetic engineering was initially formulated out of a desire to understand
how to transfer genetic information amongst similar microbial species.
Now it is used to produce life-saving therapeutics such as insulin or
human growth hormone, but can also be used to increase milk production
in cows, manufacture new polymers, or develop new therapeutics. The
following recasts these drivers in an outline that displays some of the
specific aspects of each of the drivers.

Major Forces Driving Chemical Biotechnology

New Products
(Societal Pressures)

Discovery or Basic Research

(Technological Pressures)

- Health
Glucometer, Analysis
TPA, Epogen
- Commodity
Soaps and Detergents
Whey
Biodegradable plastics

Genetic Engineering
Site-directed Mutagenesis
- Combinatorial /Phage Display
- Combinatorial Chemistry and Biocatalysis
- PCR
- Fusion Proteins
- Synzymes/Abzymes/Newzymes
- Metabolic Engineering

Environmental
(Regulatory & Legal
Pressures)

Profits/Cost Reduction
(Business Pressures)

- Green Chemistry
- Energy
- Greenhouse Effect

- Bioseparations

Section IV. The Present State of Biocatalysts

13

Fine chemical makers are increasingly using enzymatic

methods to make chiral intermediates headlines an article in the
major trade journal of the chemical industry, Chemical & Engineering News
(Jan. 4, 1999). The article then points out that, Fermentation and enzyme-based synthetic catalysis are starting to challenge traditional synthetic methods of producing optically active pharmaceutical intermediates. As these biocatalytic methods gain ground, a few organic chemistrybased intermediate manufacturers have climbed aboard, but not many
seats remain for the rest.
Biocatalysis has a large impact in the chemical world. The enzyme market alone is a $1 billion global business. Traditionally, microbial and
enzymatic processing have been used to convert biologically-derived (or
renewable) feedstocks. However, they are increasingly being used with
materials derived from fossil fuels. Uses are as divergent as chiral enzymatic transformations within an organic synthesis for a drug or for microbial desulfurization of diesel fuels. This more holistic view of the current
chemical world is shown in Figure 1. It suggests the potential and challenge of applying biocatalysis to all feedstreams.

Figure 1: One view of the chemical world

Since pharmaceutical manufacturers are among the major customers of

fine chemical manufacturers, the synthetic organic chemical industry will
be impacted and transformed by the revolution in biocatalysts. Examples
include production of precursors for Glaxo Wellcomes HIV
drug, Ziagen, and DSMs Fine Chemicals production,
including intermediates for aspartame, amoxicillin, and a
variety of classical pharmaceuticals, e.g., diltiazem and captopril.
Many other examples of enzymatic routes to chemicals are
listed in Table 1. The application or use noted in the table
demonstrates the wide use of biocatalysts. One also

14
needs to note the modest use of biocatalysts within certain industrial
sectors such as commodity or intermediate chemicals production.
In addition, the use, and potential use, of biocatalysts, whole cells, and
phytochemicals have caused the appearance of a whole set of new companies dealing with biotransformation. Many, many companies are based
on the paradigm of a nursery of small research-based start-up companies
feeding into larger established firms.

Table 1: Novel microbial enzymes

Product

Enzyme

Origin

D-Amino acids (CF)

D-Hydantoinase
D-Decarbamoylase
-Tyosinase
Serine hydroxy-methyltransferase
Nitrile hydratase
Nitrile hydratase
Nitrilase
Nitrilase
Lipase

Pseudomonas putida, Bacillus sp.

Blastobacter sp., Agrobacterium sp.
Erwinia herbicola
Methylobacterium sp.
Rhodococcus rhodochrous
Rhodococcus rhodochrous
Rhodococcus rhodochrous
Rhodococcus rhodochrous
Serratia marcescens

o-Phthalyl amidase
Alkene monooxygenase
Hydroxylase

Xanthobacter agilis
Nocardia corallina
Beauveria bassiana

Alcohol dehydrogenase
Halyohydrin hydrogenhalidelyase
Alcohol dehydrogenase and
reductase
Lactonase
Oxygenase
Adenosylmethionine synthetase
Adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase
Nucleoside phosphorylase
Nucleoside phosphorylase
Nucleoside phosphorylase
Multistep conversion
Multistep conversion

Rhodococcus erythropolis
Alcaligenes sp., Pseudomonas sp.

L-3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine
L-Serine (CF, H)
Acrylamide (Ch)
Nicotinamide (H)
Acrylic acid (Ch)
Nicotinic acid
2S,3R-3-(4-Methoxyphenylglycidic acid) methyl ester
Carbacephem (H)
Chiral epoxide
R-2-(4 Hydroxyphenoxy)
propionic acid (Ch)
S-p-Chlorophenylethanol
Chiral 2,3-dichloro-1-propanol
S-1,2-Pentanediol
D-Pantoic acid (H)
Theobromine (CF)
Adenosylmethionine (H)
Adenosylhomocysteine (H)
Adenine arabinoside
Ribavirine (H)
5-Methyluridine
Arachidonic acid
Eicosapentaenoic acid

Candida parapsilosis
Fusarium oxysporum
Pseudomonas putida
Saccharomyces sake
Alcaligenes faecalis
Enterobacter aerogenes
Erwinia carotovora
Erwinia carotovora
Mortierella alpina
Mortierella alpina

[adapted and reprinted from Trends in Biotechnology, Vol. 17, 1999, Ogawa, J. and Sakayu Shimizu, Microbial
enzymes: new industrial applications from traditional screening methods, pp 13-20, Copyright 1999, with
permission from Elsevier Science.] CF - commodity food; H - health related; Ch - chemical product or intermediate.

15
Other examples
The Presidential National Medal of Technology, the highest honor given
in the United States for achievement in science and technology, was
awarded to Amgen, a major U.S. biotechnology company, for bringing to
market two widely successful medicines, EPOGEN and
NEUPOGEN. These two medicines vastly improve the quality of life of
patients with cancer or kidney disease.
The chemical process industries are beginning to realize that enzymes are
not only effective for catalyzing reactions of naturalcompounds within
living systems, but that they can be used to catalyze reactions of unnatural compounds. Enzyme biocatalysts are being applied in the production of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural chemicals. Their
attractiveness comes from high selectivities, ability for use under ambient
conditions, and ease of disposal.
The enzyme nitrile hydratase from a R. rhodococcus strain has been developed for the hydrolysis of acrylonitrile to acrylamide for use in plastics.
The enzyme is immobilized in whole cells and can produce acrylamide
concentrations greater than 600 g/L. The biocatalytic approach has
reached a production level of 100,000 tons/yr.
The DSM-Toyo Soda process uses the enzymatic protease thermolysin for
manufacture of aspartame, and is illustrative of two types of biocatalyst
selectivity: chemical and stereoselectivity.
High-fructose corn syrup produced in large quantities (23 million tons in
1998) is an enzyme-based product. The process includes three enzymatic
steps: the -amylase catalyzed liquefaction of corn syrup, further hydrolysis of sugar oligomers by glucoamylase, and the isomerization of
glucose to the glucose-fructose mixture.
The hydrolysis of penicillin G or V to 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6f-APA)
using penicillin acylase is an early success story for the use of enzymes in
chemical manufacture. Almost 9000 tons of 6f-APA were produced
worldwide in 1995, mostly via the biocatalytic approach.
DuPont and Genencor have filed patents for processes and microorganisms to make 1,3 propanediol (1,3-PD) by fermentation in one step from
various carbohydrate sources. The 1,3-PD is used in the production of the
polyester polytrimethylene terephthalate.
Cargill-Dow Polymers is developing a large-scale fermentation process
alongside their other corn processing systems followed by chemical
processing (a type of biorefinery) to generate polylactic acid for a multitude of applications including biodegradable sutures, biocompatible
fibers, packaging, and functional replacements for commodity plastics
such as styrene.

16
Many researchers in academia, industry, and government are developing
directed molecular evolution to produce enzymes with novel functions.
The technique uses mutagenesis and DNA shuffling to generate random
mutations in the genes of interest. This approach can increase the activity
of selected enzymes by more than 100-fold over the native enzyme.
Novel enzymes derived from extremeophiles represent an area of high
research and commercial interest. These enzymes have gained attention
because they evolve under circumstances that can provide activity over a
broader range of conditions. Enzymes (native or evolved), along with
microbial catalysts, are used combinatorially to discover new biologically
active molecules or to improve lead candidates for pharmaceutical discovery.

The timeline problem in roadmapping:

How do we get to 2020?
Biocatalysis can have a broad impact in multiple aspects of the chemical
industry. Biocatalysts can offer multiple advantages as described above,
but to gain these advantages, biocatalysis and its application bioprocessing need to become a predictable and routine tool for conversion. The
development of biocatalysis should be seen as adding processing and
catalytic tools to the more traditional chemical and thermochemical
methods of converting one chemical or material into a new and more
valuable material.
We need to find ways to expand the utility and impact of biocatalysts by
eliminating the typical difficulties or operational limits encountered in
biocatalysis, such as temperature, pH, product inhibition, slower rates,
and processing dilute aqueous product streams. This must all be accomplished while maintaining the advantages of high specificity and multistep processing. High specificity allows precise reactions to occur (e.g.,
removal of organosulfur from diesel). Similarly, multistep processing
improves yields both by elimination of intermediate synthetic steps and
by decreasing solvent switching, thus reducing the number and volume
of waste streams.
The bioconversion industries are in an explosive stage of development.
Much of the root cause for this current state of excitement has been
technology-driven. The technology has pulled the markets into new
areas. In particular, with the more widespread use of biotechnology tools,
the health industries have now become largely market-driven. Moving
the larger scale bioprocesses from a technology pull to a market-driven
basis is a continual challenge. Achieving market pull in the commodity
chemical business will require new approaches and tools, a track record of
reasonable successes and, in many cases, the creation of new markets.
The formation of CargillDow Polymers, LLC is an example of a joint effort
between the producer of corn syrup sugar-based lactic acid, Cargill, and

17
the product development company, Dow Chemical, which is devising
methods to convert lactic acid into commercially viable products.
DuPonts plans for 3-carbon polymers based on 1,3 propanediol includes
the temporary use of a pure chemical process to establish the market
while a biocatalyst-based process is commercialized. These ventures
indicate that the biocatalysis area is moving to a market-driven mode that
actively pursues and seeks out new technologies for exploitation rather
than waiting for them to be offered. The industry involvement and
excitement at this workshop reflected this point.
How do we reach these goals? One perspective views biocatalysts as just
another catalyst possessing commercial perspectives of being faster,
cheaper, better (Table 2). This perspective requires that the R&D of
biocatalysts be directed towards reducing the time to market and implementation. This perspective demands implementation of recent biotechnology tools as well as development of new innovations.

Table 2: A simple industrial perspective on goals for

biocatalyst development*
Development Time for Catalysts
Operational
Objective
Faster
Cheaper

Better

Competitive
Imperative

Current Chemical Current

Biocatalyst of
Varieties
Biocatalysts
the Future

Speed to Market

2-5 years

Cost to
Manufacture

$1-10/kg

Range of Products

Broad

10 years

2-3 years

Tools Needed to
achieve FOM
Enzyme recruitment

$10-100/kg $1-3/kg

Narrow

Broad

*Oral presentation by Genencor and Eastman Chemicals at NIST-ATP workshop,

an industrial partnering, Boulder, CO, October, 1996.

18

Section V. The Workshop

19

n this roadmapping exercise we used a model that involved

two interlocking modes for categorizing biocatalysis. One axis
is comprised of types of biocatalysts.
Enzymes
Microorganisms
Multicellular Organisms (e.g., plants or animals)

The other axis is comprised of the product type that is largely a function
of scale of production (ordered from low volume to highest)
Pharmaceuticals
Fine Chemicals
Commodities
Fuels

Biocatalysis spans the range of organisms

and applications

MULTICELLULAR
ORGANISMS

MICROORGANISMS

PHARMACEUTICALS

FINE CHEMICALS

R
R

ENZYMES

COMMODITIES

FUELS

Unfortunately, each of the intersections between biocatalyst

type and product is at a different state-of-the-art in terms of
available R&D tools as well as production levels.
In addition, certain classes of discovery and development tools
have broad applicability across all categories of process scale or
tool requirements, for example:

20
Screening and selection of biocatalyst
Biocatalyst development and engineering
Integration into larger processes (including separations)
Modeling (both on the molecular scale and the process/
economic scale)
These different scales of production, biocatalyst type, developmental
state-of-the-art, and feedstock source create a complexity that requires
simplification in order to allow formulation of R&D priorities and targets.
The workshop approached this complexity by dividing into work groups
to tackle four basic areas, which possessed significant differences. These
breakout groups were derived by creating categories which mixed the
two axes noted on the previous page in a manner that would yield the
greatest level of focus, impact to specific industries, and results that
would be useful for strategic planners within agencies, industry, and
other institutions. The four categories are defined as follows:
A. Small volume bioprocessing
(fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals)
B. Industrial processes (Large volume chemicals,
materials)
C. Screening/Selection/Development of
biocatalysts
D. Multicellular organisms as biocatalysts
A simple linear timeline cannot be constructed to describe or guide
biocatalyst development. Not unexpectedly, the process will be complex
and iterative with projects at various stages of development. For example, in the use of whole cells as biocatalysts, biopolymers such as
-hydroxypolyesters are well along in development. Similarly, the use of
biomass in liquid fuel production has made its way into commercial use
but continues to face many hurdles, despite Presidential and Congressional support to elevate it to a national priority. It was reassuring to
find significant areas of concurrence among the four groups as to basic
approaches to maximize the future use and value of biocatalysts.

The workshop process

Step 1. Defining Goals for 2020 and Beyond
The workshop participants were exposed to a range of possible goals in
defining barriers and research priorities. One of these goal sets included a
reduction of energy consumption and a decrease in adverse environmental impacts. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers Center for
Waste Reduction Technologies has developed some measurable goals:
Widespread use of biocatalysts would lead to a 30%
reduction in the chemical industrys material intensity,

21
water consumption, energy intensity, toxic dispersion,
and pollutant dispersion.
Performance metrics were also laid out as goals. Table 2 depicts one possible model. Additional concepts such as those outlined below were also
considered:
Increasing temperature stability of enzymes up to 120 - 130C
Increasing activity by 100 - 10,000 fold over current levels (in
water or organic solvents)
Productivity increases of 10 - 100 fold
Enzymatic turnover rates comparable to current chemical catalysts
Lifetime durability of months to even years
Increasing numbers of types of enzymes employed (i.e., expand tool
boxes to include isomerases, transferases, oxidoreductases, lyases, and
ligases)
Improving robustness of enzymes or microbes under immobilized
conditions
Molecular modeling allows de novo design of enzyme function in
months instead of years
The workshop participants developed more specific performance goals
relating to the individual focus of each breakout group. A compilation or
summary of the goals of each focus breakout group is found in Appendix
A. A consolidation of these goals is described below.
1. Biocatalysts will need to be produced more costeffectively (cheaper) and address a wider range of
chemical reactions in order to impact a broader
range of uses.
2. Biocatalytic systems need to be as viable an option
for process chemists as chemical catalysts are
today.
3. Biocatalysts should be able to address a reduction
in the impacts on water, materials, and energy
consumption and contribute to reductions in
toxics and pollutant dispersion. Impacts on
carbon management should be positive, i.e., help
reduce carbon emissions and possibly participate
in carbon sequestration.
4. Biocatalysis and biocatalyst systems are, and
should continue to be, part of the green chemistry
movement.
5. More investment and attention should be given to
discovering and using better tools for biocatalyst
development.
The participants in all four work groups independently determined that
biocatalysts will need to be better, i.e., more cost-effective and/or
yielding more desirable products than current catalysts if they are to

22
displace synthetic catalysts which have a very highly established market
position. All four groups were united in this, although they differed
subtly in what measures to employ in judging that the goal had been
reached. A good synthesis of their views is that biocatalysts should be
competitive in most areas with a target of 20% better while replacing
20-30% of traditional processes with biocatalysis-based processing.
Similarly, 50% of all new processes should be bio-based. With international petroleum supplies erratic in cost and unreliable in crisis situations,
many of these new chemical processes will be bio-based. Bio-based
industries utilizing biocatalysts will also be imperative for carbon
sequestration and energy conservation to address greenhouse concerns
as well as environmental pollutant issues. Equally, the public perception
of natural is better provides marketing and profit incentives for creation of a booming green chemistry industry utilizing biocatalysts. Lifecycle analyses will be needed to characterize contribution and impact of
biocatalytic-based processes.
Unfortunately, the public does not understand the relationship between a
benign green chemistry industry and the essential development of biotechnology/genetics engineering to achieve green chemistry in a viable
and robust fashion. The development of biocatalysts should be quickly
promoted as an extension of green chemistry. Likewise, the benefits of
genetically engineered enzyme catalysts to address environmental problems need to be clearly communicated.
There was unanimity among the participants that development of a
toolbox of biocatalysts is needed. True, many success stories of specific
industrial applications of biocatalysts are available, but their success is
not widely known nor are they sufficiently numerous. One of the essential goals is to fill the toolbox with
New biocatalysts and new biocatalytic systems,
per se.
Methods to speed the development and
production of biocatalysts.
Systems that decrease the research and
development costs.
One approach would be to have a better understanding of biocatalyst/
enzyme mechanisms at a basic science level. Another is to increase
screening and selection of appropriate biocatalysts using our current
knowledge base, i.e., an empirical development approach. Almost certainly both approaches will be needed to fill our toolbox.
Specific goals of individual work groups include reduction of biocatalyst
development time by a factor of 5-10. The development time of new
whole cell biocatalysts should decrease from 10 years now to 2 years or
less by 2020, and the production cycle for biocatalysts created by protein
engineering should become as short as 3-6 months.

23
Step 2. Identifying Technical Barriers
Technical barriers for each of the four groups were also identified. The
five highest ranked barriers are listed for each of the four groups in Table
3, below. This analysis displays the broad agreement among the groups
on a few common problems such as the lack of a wider availability of
biocatalyst types; the lack of adequate tools to work with screening,
selection, development, and use of biocatalysts in process systems; inadequate understanding of enzyme or biocatalyst functionalities, operational parameters, stability, rates, selectivity, etc.; and, cost competitiveness of biocatalysts.

Table 3: Technical and Other Barriers Ranked from

Highest Priority to Lowest (five per working group were listed, others
are identified in the more detailed description in Appendix A). The scoring was not
statistically different between the items where the box is colored the same:
Blue box-Highest priority; Green box-Medium priority; Yellow box-Lower priority

B - Industrial
Processes/High
Volume

C - Screening,
Selection,
Development

Limited toolbox of
possible conversions, modeling
tools, immobilization techniques,
facilities, new
manipulation techniques, etc.

Limited numbers
of suitable conversion reaction
possibilities

Lack of understanding of enzyme or

biocatalyst functions
to permit improvements: Selectivity,
Rates, Stability

Lack of sophistication in
understanding metabolic engineering

Cost competitive
economics

High cost of
cofactors - currently no way to
bypass their use

Lack of tools or
methods to manipulate biocatalyst
activities in a process

Lack of wide assortment

of host systems - need
more and better characterized systems

Assays for enzyme

product and screening

High downstream
processing costs
in biocatalysis

Inadequate tools for

screening, selection,
and development
efforts

Limited genetic transfer

systems for plants and
unusual organisms

Overcoming stability and activity

issues

Cost competitive
economics

Cost of this kind of

research is high

Need better fermentation technology that is

lower cost and innovative

Integration within
process development scenarios

Discovering new
catalysts is too
slow. Cross
disciplinary skill
sets needed are
rare

Effective production
of enzymes from
whole organisms

Insufficient links between chemistry and

biology and inadequate
informatics tools

A - Fine Chemicals/
Small Volume

D - Whole
Organisms

24
While the four work groups were in broad agreement on a range of
overarching goals, greater differences occurred in identifying specific
technical barriers and research needs. The areas where needs/barriers
were similar related chiefly to achieving the shared goals; the areas of
difference related to the distinctive aims of each group and the character
of the portion of the industry they were addressing. No attempt was
made to normalize rankings across groups. Hence, rankings only provide
a sense of what is important in each group rather than an absolute
prioritization.

Common problems
The following are problems/barriers identified by the conference.
Lack of a biocatalyst inventory. The number of biocatalysts currently being
employed, or those in the later stages of development, is unknown.
Many commercial applications are trade secrets. However, the perception
is that the toolbox is very sparse indeed. In addition, we are not certain
what types of biocatalysts are needed. Thus an analysis of which
biocatalysts are most urgently needed is in order. Agreement between all
of the work groups exists on the following points:
the number and type of industrially significant reactions
catalyzed by biocatalysts needs to be increased
cofactor use and regeneration are limiting the number of reactions that can be successfully catalyzed using biocatalysts
new biocatalysts need to be developed which are aimed at
particularly useful and economically valuable transformations, e. g., selective oxidations.
In addition, a second kind of toolbox inadequacy was identified. This
toolbox involves tools that assist in the operation and use of biocatalysts
in process systems. This toolbox was also judged to be inadequate.
Lastly, in whole organisms, the working group strongly noted that an
understanding of the metabolism of whole organisms and how to
engineer those metabolic pathways is very high on the priority list in
order to employ whole organisms as biocatalysts.
Public education. The work groups unanimously determined that positive
public perception of biotechnology and biocatalyst development is inadequately addressed. While most of the goals and barriers discussed were
technical, many non-technical issues will affect the ability for R&D biocatalyst development. Public support, and more specifically, support by
opinion makers, managers and legislators will be needed. Specific goals
include the incorporation of biocatalysts in basic chemistry curricula and
the inclusion of an adequate component on biocatalyst development,
production and application in all catalyst courses. Additionally, the
broader public needs to be informed of the benefits of biocatalysts in the
biotechnology arena as well as the simple basics of biocatalysis.

25
Step 3. Identifying Research
Each working group was asked to identify the top 10 research needs
within their area of discussion. Again, a comparative summary is compiled and shown in Table 4, next page, for six of those top research priorities. No attempt was made to normalize rankings across groups. Hence,
rankings only provide a sense of what is important in each group rather
than an absolute prioritization. The full outline of the research needs
identified for each of the four working groups is found in Appendix A.

Step 4. Research Implementation

Each group was asked to outline how they envisioned the implementation of their recommendations would occur and, in some cases, how they
would track the success of the recommendations in the roadmap. Only
three of the groups were able to accomplish this step. The outlines of
those recommendations are found in Appendix A. We have taken those
recommendations and crafted a separate implementation section of this
report. This section includes most of the relevant suggestions provided
by the workshop participants. Those that were not specifically included
are not inconsequential, but are considered to be options for any of the
specific implementation recommendations made in this report.

26

Table 4: Specific Technical Research Needs Ranked

from Highest Priority to Lowest (six per working group were listed,
others are identified in the more detailed description in Appendix A). The scoring
was not statistically different between the items where the box is colored the same:
Blue box-Highest priority; Green box-Medium priority; Yellow box-Lower priority

A - Fine Chemicals/
Small Volume
Identifying contents
of biocatalyst
developmental
toolbox

B - Industrial
Processes/High
Volume

C - Screening,
Selection,
Development

Discovering and
developing new
catalysts in all 6
biocatalytic domains (hydrolases,

Develop tools for

computational biology to develop better
descriptions of enzyme mechanisms

Improve understanding
of metabolic pathway
engineering and develop better tools for
probing metabolism of
whole cells

isomerases, transferases,
oxidoreductases, lyases,
and ligases)

D - Whole
Organisms

Developing mediators and electrodes

for electrically
coupling enzymes
(including photochemical)

Develop economic
approaches to
bypass cofactor
requirements

Develop biocatalyst
arrays on chips to
enhance rapid
screening potential

Design and characterize

more and more varied
host systems

Integrating the
discovery, process
development, and
economics of
biocatalytic processes

Understanding
new enzyme
structure/function

Develop biocatalytic
tool boxes for use of
biocatalysts under
variable operational
conditions

Be able to undertake
directed evolution at
the whole cell level

Achieving high
activity of nonhydrolytic enzymes
in polar organic
solvents

Developing more
stable biocatalysts
via chemical or
other stabilization
methods

Creation of highquality, functional

genomics libraries

Develop robust and

useful tools to probe
metabolism, improve
selection, create metabolic switches, etc.

Finding the minimum peptide scaffold for biocatalysts

Lowering the cost

of biocatalyst
production

Increase understanding of enzymology in

non-aqueous environments

Develop pools of poised

organisms suitable to
address new needs

Integrating upstream and down

stream processing
in biocatalytic
processing systems

Design and develop

better catalysts to
introduce oxygen
functionality on
hydrocarbons

Identify desirable traits

that allow for enduring
extreme environments,
breaking species barriers, etc.

(including defining catalytic

sites for or by biomimetics)

Real time assays for

high throughput
screening

Section VI. Implementation

How do we get to 2020? How far are we?
What will it take to get there?
A. Goals and Objectives
The goal of the roadmapping effort was to acquire sufficient information
and input to craft an R&D pathway for the development of biocatalyst
technology for applications in the broadest definition of the chemical
industry. This definition includes the production of commodity, intermediate, and fine chemicals, ranging from basic chemicals to pharmaceuticals and using both conventional and unconventional feedstocks. Conventional implies petroleum or coal-based feedstocks. Unconventional
includes renewable biomass, natural gas, using gases such as carbon
dioxide or nitrogen, other inorganics, and feedstocks from marine environments (i.e., sulfur compounds). Sufficient information was obtained
to initiate the construction of a first-generation, biocatalysis roadmap.
The implementation section of this document outlines a recommended
strategy to facilitate and promote the development of biocatalysts in
support of this roadmap. As R&D progresses, specific performance
indicators will appear that will serve as markers of true progress.

B. Performance Indicators
1. Use of biocatalysts by process chemists will become as routine as the
use of conventional catalysts. Biocatalysts will be viewed as reagents that
can be obtained from a catalog (some are today) or ordered up from a
biocatalyst development company.
The range of environments for biocatalyst application
will expand beyond simple aqueous systems into
nonconventional, complex multiphasic or
multimilieu environments.
Biocatalyst function will become more predictable,
particularly with respect to reactions catalyzed under
the aforementioned conditions.
2. Biocatalyst development time (from design to synthesis to deployment)
will become competitive with conventional catalysts.
Functional platforms based on substrate, milieu,
reaction, etc. will become available, from which it
will be possible to rapidly screen and develop
biocatalysts for tailored use.

27

28
3. Structure/function properties of biocatalysts will become more available. This will facilitate wider applications in industry for a wide range of
biocatalyst substrates or feedstocks.

C. Strategy
The strategy has two components:
1) promoting R&D in biocatalyst research and use, and
2) monitoring the progress of biocatalyst development and deployment.
1. Promoting R&D Support. Steps will be taken to encourage federal,
private, and nonprofit funding for biocatalyst development in support of
the R&D identified in the roadmap. Areas of R&D interest and opportunity include:
a. Conventional processes (aqueous processing on
small to medium-sized scales) for typical industries
such as specialty and fine chemicals (pharmaceuticals) and in unconventional arenas such as commodity chemicals and petrochemical processing
(organic media, gas phase, etc.). Organic media
should not be specific to commodity and petrochemical processing, rather, it should be examined
in all potential arenas.
b. Biocatalyst discovery and the need for additional
resources for the design of new biocatalysts with
optimized/tailored properties.
c. New avenues of biocatalyst use for processing
renewable biomass resources, renewable gas
conversion (carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, etc.),
and other unconventional resources, e.g.,
inorganics. Included in this component will be the
development of biocatalysts in unconventional
hosts such as plants, animals, etc.
d. Tool development and fundamental understanding of biocatalyst structure and function. This will
provide the critical technology to allow biocatalyst
developers to make significant advances in the
other two strategies.

Specific approaches to include more biocatalyst research in programs and

R&D calls will require some tailoring of the information in the documents
to the target audience among which will likely be industry, academia, and
federal agencies. The approach for R&D organizations employing a
programmatic plan to solve mission-oriented problems will require
targeting the organizational program managers, the actual performers of

29
the research of that programmatic effort, and their stakeholders. For
R&D organizations employing a solicitation process, the target will be
those who craft such solicitations and the approach will be to have these
solicitations reflect the portions of the roadmap that can logically and
rationally be integrated into their solicitation(s). For R&D organizations
with the mission of supporting principal investigator-driven, peerreviewed work, the targets will likely be the academic and basic research community itself. This will require exposure of the roadmap
concepts in public forums. Several industries that use biocatalysts,
including chemical, agricultural, and forest products, have encouraged
some federal funding agencies to support work in precompetitive
research in areas with long-term benefit to their industry.
2. R&D Monitoring. A successful and productive implementation of
the roadmap by research institutions will require that R&D recommendations be monitored for use within the research community and, in
particular, within the chemical industry. This can be accomplished by
tracking federal and private funding for biocatalyst R&D, new industry
developments in bioprocessing, and new biocatalyst citations in the
literature (see Table 1, page 14).

D. Approach
A two-fold approach is recommended to accomplish the above strategies. First, ownership for promoting the R&D identified within the
roadmap will be determined. Second, mechanisms will be established
to track and monitor biocatalyst R&D and deployment. Two areas that
this approach will address include a trained work force and the current
specifications of industrial processes. Many chemists and chemical
engineers are still unfamiliar with biocatalysts and enzymes. This is
changing but will not occur overnight. The approach involves educating this group of influential stakeholders. Also, 90% of commodity
chemical processes involve organic solvents which is not the typical
milieu for biocatalysts. In addition, these processes normally operate at
temperatures and pressures much higher than is suitable for
biocatalysts. This approach will seek to make inroads addressing this
90% market and also to enlarge the 10% of the market where water is
present and biocatalysts are more likely to be active participants.
The approach involves all R&D sectors in the United States industry,
not-for-profit, academia, and government. The target audiences include
all agencies that support biocatalyst R&D, industries and companies
involved in biocatalyst development, and non-governmental organizations that would have an interest in the development of biocatalysts,
especially organizations concerned about genetically-modified-organisms (GMOs).
1. Ownership. There is a need to identify a lead organization and to
establish a mechanism for the interaction between the lead and other

30
stakeholders in this R&D arena. One approach is to form a biocatalyst
executive steering group commissioned to further the strategies and
objectives of the roadmap. Representatives to the steering group could be
from other trade organizations or appropriate industry, academia, and
laboratory personnel.
The Council for Chemical Research (CCR) has been active in support of
the various Vision 2020 roadmaps and will be encouraged to establish a
central role. The other signatories of the Vision 2020 compact will be
enjoined to participate with roles commensurate with their interests and
the interests of their stakeholders. For example, the American Chemical
Society, Council for Chemical Research and the American Institute of
Chemical Engineers might focus on promoting the roadmaps to academic, national laboratory, industry and other research institutions they
each represent. The Chemical Manufacturers Association and the Society
of Organic Chemicals Manufacturing Association might represent corporate manufacturing interests. Additional representation will be sought
from the Biotechnology Institute Organization (BIO), which represents
the biotechnology industry and other trade and not-for-profit organizations.
2. Monitoring. A key to successful implementation of the roadmap is
tracking R&D progress and monitoring R&D results. Biotechnology/
biocatalysis funding through various federal agencies and departments,
papers published in research journals, corporate R&D investments,
venture capital investments, new company developments, new
bioprocess applications, etc., are areas to monitor with respect to
biocatalysis R&D progress and the general business health of biotechnology related to biocatalysts. Various for-profit, not-for-profit and federal
organizations with experience in this type of tracking and monitoring
work include the Rand Corporation, Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and others.

E. The Path Forward

The following activities are recommended to initiate and begin the focus
on roadmap implementation:
Establish an executive steering committee and convene
one meeting of the committee (October, 2000). Representation to the committee should consist of chemical
industry trade organizations as well as interested
university, government, and not-for-profit groups.
Make roadmap presentations to trade organizations
and by trade organization to their respective members
(April, 2001)
Present papers in overview of the roadmap in professional meetings, conferences, etc. as a means of promoting the R&D identified (CY2001)

31
Sponsor technical sessions at professional meetings,
conferences, etc., containing R&D papers that address
R&D areas within the roadmap (CY 2002)

F. Benefits to Users of Roadmap Information

The use of the roadmap by funding agencies, industry, and other R&D
organizations should provide some increased awareness of both the
challenges and opportunities that lie within the realm of biocatalysis. The
introduction to this roadmap depicts the state-of-the-art and the ongoing
R&D efforts in this field. The consensus that the field is ripe and that
opportunities abound to harvest a rich supply of useful biocatalytic tools
is widespread. The user of this roadmap will benefit from the broad
experience of a multitude of scientists in the various fields of biocatalysis.
Previous reports on biocatalysis have touched on various aspects of the
opportunity. This roadmap can be a powerful tool in crafting requests for
proposals, in outlining research programs, and in addressing specific
biocatalytic development pathways.
Successful implementation of the roadmap recommendations can be
ensured through dedicated and committed support by the federal government and industry. This report can provide federal agencies with
information and research challenges that will be useful in guiding their
funding priorities and solicitations. In addition, we are hopeful that the
report will also provide some information that is helpful in developing
policy, particularly through establishing environments that encourage the
rapid development of this particular arena in the wide world of biotechnology.

32

Section VII. Success Factors in

Implementing the R&D in the Roadmap

otential success factors for implementing this roadmap in the

chemical industry can be shown in several categories. The following success factors outlined by one of the working groups are
germane for the entire workshop.

A funding track: 10 times current by 2002 would be a measure of high

success.
New products to market. In the commodity chemical industry, there are
only a handful of existing products that have been commercialized over
the past 15 years. If this roadmap impacts the industry, the increase will
be different for the pharmaceutical industry versus the broader chemical
industry. For the pharmaceutical industry, if the rate of introductions of
new products increased by 50% per year, success could be claimed. In the
broader chemical industry, a three-to-five fold increase in new products
employing biocatalysts would demonstrate a real impact.
The establishment of oversight committees containing members of
reputable organizations that monitor the use and development of
biocatalysts, particularly involving GMOs, indicates success in implementing the tenets of the roadmap.
Widely distributed success stories would be an obvious indicator of
success.
The emergence of influential champions in industry, government, or
academia is an indicator that the roadmaps suggestions are being taken
seriously by the chemical enterprise community.
Simply tracking jobs, sales, improved economics in the chemical community as they are related to biocatalysis, would be a clear success indicator.
Sessions involving biocatalysis at professional meetings, government
project reviews, and in specialized meetings should increase if the
roadmap recommendations are being implemented.

33

34

Appendix A: Summaries of Workshop Output

Goals
Group A - Biocatalysts for Fine Chemicals/
Small Volume Bioprocesses/Pharmaceuticals
Technical
Increase process intensification or volumetric productivity: kg/
capacity/time by 10 fold by 2000
Shift one-third of processes from batch to flow reactors
Improve catalyst cost/value contribution
Increase number of products made by biocatalysts: 10% by 2010
and 20% by 2020, replace 30% of traditional processes with
biocatalyzed processes; produce 30% of the value ($) of fine
chemicals by biocatalysts
Develop robust biocatalysis toolbox that enables a paradigm
shift and removes the distinction between bio and chemical
catalysts
Increase speed of development and production by a factor of 10
Develop catalysts that carry out multi-step reactions
Educational, Policy or Other
Change the approach to addressing chemical problems to include
biocatalysts
Develop new processes other than whole cell processes for production
opportunities

Group B - Biocatalysts for Industrial Processes (Large Volume Chemicals/Materials)

Technical
Biocatalysts will produce ~ 20,000 pounds product per pound of catalyst
Double value/volume of bio-based products every 5 years (from now to
2020)
Processing costs will be less than conventional chemical catalyst
20% of chemicals and fuel products will be derived from biotechnology
50% of new chemicals will be based on bio-processing
Design chemicals and processing that are intrinsically recyclable or
biodegradable
Develop bioproducts with same or better performance
Make at least a 30% impact on the chemical industrys material intensity,
water consumption, energy intensity, toxics dispersion, and pollutant
dispersion

Educational, Policy or Other

Use biocatalysis to recover carbon
Improve public acceptance of biotechnology and products and product
stewardship

35
Group C - Screening/Selection/Development
of Biocatalysts
Achieve 30% improvement in material, water and energy consumption
and toxic & pollutant dispersion
Develop methods for screening a biocatalyst/enzyme in 2 weeks
Develop a catalyst with broad substrate specificity but retaining reaction,
regio-and stereo-specificity
Screen for a formulated process-based systems
Functionally understand enzyme mechanisms
Incorporate synthetic enzymes into bioprocessing
Develop key skills for high throughput screening and heterogeneous
processes that are consistent with the breadth of biodiversity
Reduce research costs by 90% by reducing cycle time, etc.
Make biocatalysts 20% better than commercial catalysts with
-higher turnover
-more robust
-indifferent to feedstock
-reduction in energy and waste

Group D - Use of Whole Organisms

This group did not outline goals with quantifiable measures. They provided a long, comprehensive list of desired traits, operational conditions,
needs for increased numbers of characterized genetic systems, and other
general items.

36

Appendix B:
The output from the November, 1999 meeting as compiled by Energetics,
Inc., can be found on the Council for Chemical Research Vision 2020
website,
http://www.ccrhq/vision/index.html
The same site permits access to other Vision 2020 reports and to the
chemical industrys basic visioning document, Technology Vision 2020:
The U.S. Chemical Industry.

Participants
New Biocatalysts: Essential Tools for a
Sustainable 21st Century Chemical Industry
November 16-18, 1999
Palo Alto, Califonia
Affiliation as of November, 1999

Joe Affholter, Maxygen

William A. Apel, Idaho National Eng. & Env. Laboratory
Frances Arnold, Cal Tech
Patrick Bigot, Chevron Chemical
Robert Bloksberg-Fireovid, DOC, NIST/ATP
Peter Bluford, Sangamo BioSciences, Inc.
Marion Bradford, A.E. Staley Mfg. Co.
David Boron, DOE, Office of Industrial Technologies
Harold J. Bright, Office of Naval Research
Ross Brindle, Energetics, Inc.
Alle Bruggink, DSM Research
Douglas Cameron, Cargill, Inc.
Ellen R. Campbell, The Nitrate Elimination Company, Inc.
Chris Caperton, Energetics, Inc.
Joel Cherry, Novo Nordisk Biotech, Inc.
Doug Clark, UC Berkeley
Brian H. Davison, Oak Ridge National Lab
Sue Markland Day, Bay Area Bioscience Center
David R. Dodds, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Jonathan S. Dordick, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Michael von Fahnestock, Battelle
James R. Frank, Argonne National Laboratory
Robert S. Glass, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Randolph Greasham, Merck & Co.
Fred Hart, The Hart Partners Inc.
Michael E. Himmel, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Nancy Ho, Purdue University
Gjalt Huisman, Maxygen
Larry Ito, Dow Chemical Company
Keith Jamison, Energetics, Inc.
Hank Kenchington, DOE, Office of Industrial Technologies
John Kerr, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Alan Klotz, Novo Nordisk Biotech, Inc.
Peter Lanciano, Altus Biologics, Inc.
Xiao-Chuan Liu, Austin Peay State University
Ripudaman Malhotra, SRI International
Shawna McQueen, Energetics, Inc.
Daniel J. Monticello, Energy Biosystems Corp.
Gene Petersen, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Sun Ai Raillard, Maxygen
David Rethwisch, University of Iowa
Dan Robertson, Diversa Corporation
Sandra Russell, DuPont Central Research
William Scouten, USU Biotechnology Center
Robert G. Shong, Texaco Upstream Technology
Barbara Smith, Chevron Chemical
Jim C. Spain, Air Force Research Lab
Charles H. Squires, Dow Chemical Company
Emiel G. J. Staring, DSM Research
Pim Stemmer, Maxygen
Koni Stone, CS University, Stanislaus
William Stringfellow, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Henry Talbot, Dow Chemical Company
Matt Tobin, Maxygen
Paris Tsobanakis, Cargill, Inc.
William D. Wilson, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Alice Wright, CS University, Fresno
Richard T. Zvosec, Cargill, Inc.

37

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Contact Information
For more information contact these
Council for Chemical Research members:
William Scouten, Dean, College of Sciences,
University of Texas at San Antonio
6900 North Loop 1604,
San Antonio, TX 78249-0661
210-458-4450
[email protected]
Gene Petersen, Chemistry for Bioenergy Systems Center,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
1617 Cole Boulevard,
Golden, CO 80401
303-275-2994
[email protected]

New Biocatalysts Workshop Planning Group

Affiliation as of November, 1999

Co-chairs
Gene Petersen,
National Renewable Energy Lab
Members
Robert Bloksberg-Fireovid, NIST/ATP
David Boron, U.S. Department of Energy
Arindam Bose, Pfizer, Inc.
Doub Cameron, Cargill, Inc.

William H. Scouten,
Utah State University
Biotechnology Center
A. Stephen Dahms,
San Diego State University
Brian Davidson, Oak Ridge National Lab
Richard Willson, University of Houston

CCR Vision 2020 Bioprocessing/Biotechnology Work Group

Affiliation as of November, 1999

William H. Scouten, Chair, USU BTC

Robert Bloksberg-Fireovid, NIST/ATP
David Boron, U.S. Department of Energy
Arindam Bose, Pfizer, Inc.
Bryan Lawlis, Covance
A. Stephen Dahms, San Diego State University

Robert Dorsch, DuPont Life Sciences

Janie Fouke, National Science Foundation
Gene Petersen, NREL
Vincent Vilker, NIST
Richard Willson, University of Houston

A copy of this document is on the web page of the Council for Chemical Research as a
read-only, printable file. For additional hard copies, contact Dr. Scouten by e-mail at
the address above.