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Way Forward for Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology in Europe
Full text linkTo restrict global warming to a maximum of 1.5 °C, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced to ‘net zero’ by 2050. The transition from the current, largely fossil-based global economy towards a circular, nowaste (bio-) economy based on renewable raw materials is seen as a critical pillar. In this paper, we explore the sustainability benefits as well as the implementation opportunities and challenges in Europe for three biomanufactured products used in animal and human nutrition, i.e. vitamins A and B2 and canthaxanthin. To allow the biomanufacturing industry to leverage its full potential and to achieve ‘net zero’ in time, it will be crucial for European policy makers to create the appropriate framework conditions for incentivizing the required transformation of the chemical sector as well as for securing the competitiveness of European industry
Advancing Metal-Free Asymmetric Hydrogenation: From FLP Catalyst Design to Synthetic Innovations
Full text linkAsymmetric hydrogenation (AH) is one of the most important transformations in organic synthesis, enabling efficient access to enantioenriched molecular building blocks used in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and fine chemicals. AH is largely dominated by catalysts based on precious transition-metals. However, concerns over cost, supply, and toxicity have intensified interest in developing metal-free alternatives. Frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) – combinations of sterically encumbered Lewis acids and bases – have emerged as a promising metal-free platform for AH, yet they face significant challenges that must be addressed to enable widespread adoption. Our group aims to contribute to this effort by developing new chiral FLP catalysts for AH and exploring FLP-mediated transformations beyond hydrogenation. In this perspective, we summarize the state-of-the-art, outline current challenges, and discuss opportunities to advance the field towards sustainable catalysis
Optimizing the Production of Therapeutic Bacteriophages Through Quality by Design: A Case Study on Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
Full text linkA Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) risk assessment was conducted to evaluate and document the criticality of process parameters and material attributes involved in a Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage production process. This assessment was carried out following the principles of Quality by Design (QbD) as outlined by the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. By systematically identifying and controlling critical factors, this approach contributes to the development of a more robust and reproducible phage production process, ultimately enhancing process efficiency and product quality
Educating Future Chemists in the Age of AI: A Digital Chemistry Course
Full text linkArtificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are developing fast and are increasingly adopted in both chemical industry and academic research. With the projected role such tools will play in the future, for every chemist, these developments call for a fundamental and sound education for future generations of scientists in these areas. In this perspective, we describe the development of the course Digital Chemistry at ETH Zurich, which addresses these topics. In particular, we outline our approach to teaching ML and its applications in chemistry. We especially emphasize that the skills of understanding, applying and critically assessing ML models will be fundamental for future chemists. We hope that this article will serve as inspiration for educators in this field and help to enhance the teaching in this area of future significance
Have to Shake It Up: STEM Education Feeling the Heat from Artificial Intelligence
Full text linkGeneral-purpose AI already correctly solves most traditional assessment problems in first-year STEM education, and it continues to become more proficient with every release. This quiet superheating of familiar practices by increasing AI capabilities will yield a messy eruption unless instructors introduce deliberate ‘nucleation sites’ and shake up the curriculum. We argue that results of science education research are now more relevant than ever since they provide insights and strategies on how to optimize human learning. Finally, we emphasize the importance of community and wellbeing – through peer instruction, studios, and brief, structured oral checks with whiteboarding – to counter loneliness and fatalism. As most of these instructional methods involve open-ended tasks, which tend to be more resource-intensive in grading and feedback than traditional, solution-oriented closed-form answer practices, AI can play an important role in assisting and supporting human educators. Thus, we illustrate how ETH Zurich’s Ethel system operationalizes these approaches through a course-grounded chatbot, formative feedback on handwritten work, on-demand practice, and grading assistance, while keeping learning human
Disentangling a Complex Biomolecular World with Single-Molecule Resolution
Full text linkBiological systems rely on a complex and precisely controlled mix of biomolecules to sustain life as we know it. In addition to their compositional heterogeneity, individual biomolecules undergo dynamic rearrangements to fulfil their cellular function: they move, reversibly interact, and alternate between multiple conformations. Disentangling these compositional and dynamic complexities of biological systems poses a formidable challenge to established ensemble techniques. In this review, we discuss two single-molecule techniques – nanopore recordings and single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (smFRET) measurements – and highlight their powerful abilities to unravel mixtures and resolve biomolecular dynamics with the ultimate resolution of single molecules. Applications range from identifying the vast sequence space populated by nucleic acids and stoichiometries observed in small messenger molecules, to detecting time-varying conformations and interactions of large multi-domain proteins. This non-exhaustive review aims to introduce non-expert readers to the unique benefits of single-molecule experiments, which can overcome ensemble and time averaging as well as dynamic range limitations, and therefore offer unique, quantitative descriptions of the intriguingly complex biomolecular mechanisms found within and around us
