Welcome to the home page of the Biocatalysis group.

We investigate the ability of microorganisms and their enzymes to convert waste or cheap starting materials to value added products. The research group focuses on the synthesis of biodegradable plastics as well as small molecules.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate, a polymer of hydroxylated fatty acids is the biodegradable biological polyester that we are currently investigating.

Substituted catechols and epoxides are the current target small molecules for our research group.

The area of biocatalysis is interdisciplinary with a strong over lap between Biology, Chemistry and Engineering. We are a Microbiology group that collaborates with synthetic, analytical, technical, and polymer chemists as well as chemical engineers. Together we address questions concerning enzyme engineering, gene expression, bioprocessing, synthetic chemistry, biochemistry, and polymer chemistry.

The research group is part of the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science (SBBS) and the Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology (CSCB).