Organophosphate Degrading Enzymes

Agve BioSystems in collaboration with Carl A. Batt propose to develop decon-nanoparticles which will leverage ongoing opportunities in enzyme engineering and the fabrication of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles. Enhanced performance will be engineered into the system to improve the catalytic degradation of chemical agents. Through an iterative process optimizing the particles and the enzyme we will be incrementally improve the overall system. Coupled to this effort will be a parallel effort to develop high production levels of the enzyme to insure that the ultimate decontamination process is not only effective by economically feasible. The system that we will develop will also have application for the degradation of a number of organophosphates including those used as pesticide.he use of enzymes for bioremediation has been the focus of intense academic and commercial interest for over twenty years. Biological systems provide an attractive route to remediation of different sites contaminated by a variety of accidental and/or deliberate chemical agents. National expenditures in the early 1990¿s for environmental clean up was well over $100 billion and these costs have increased exponentially since then. If effective catalysts can be found and means to deliver them to the site of the contamination effectively developed there is a huge opportunity for this market. Overseas markets will also expend at the global demand for green processes and the recovery of contaminated areas continues.