- Email: [email protected]
Industrial and diagnostic enzymes
Trends in Biotechnology, VoL 1, No. 4, 1983
130
is less clear is: would Britain have a biotechnology industry which was productive? A national plan for biotechnology needs actors to play in it and in a society in which reward is largely the same as material gain the measures outlined by Dr Yoxen are mostly irrelevant: scientists are given more laboratory resources and can acquire more money in North America, especially in biotechnology firms. This is illustrated by the recent exodus of several leading exponents of molecular biology all of whom are running research programs for major foreign biotechnology firms. (Socialist solutions must confront capitalist competition.)
The subsidiary theme of the Gene science is pitched at the 'super boffin Business and underlying theme of the discovers miracle cure' level. The Crucible series is the democratic control of science: the participation of an informed populace in deciding scientific policy after open debate. As part of this debate the Gene Business itself is a welcome addition especially as it strives to present the background needed for an informed discussion. Surprisingly, the rest of the media is almost totally ignored by Dr Yoxen. Perhaps the reluctance of scientists to debate science is illusory and only a reflection of media reluctance to explain complex arguments in presentations that contain more information than entertainment. Too often the discussion of
answer lies back in the schools where teachers must introduce science into our culture. It is probably this desire to get back to school days which causes Dr Yoxen to describe scientists as a 'highly self regarding elite' of 'mandarins' - an unhelpful contribution to the debate using language more appropriate to the school playground. P. GOODFELLOW
Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, UK.
the book does serve as an excellent refresher course on mass transfer transfer, the author has set out to give operations outside one's own speciality. realistic examples of calculations en- It may particularly meet the needs of countered in engineering practice. engineers who are faced with unAbout one-fourth of the book is devoted familiar design problems and want a to this purpose, which may be regarded brief guideline for the necessary calculations. The up-to-date reference lists as its very backbone. Fundamentals of mass transfer are provide access to more details on the outlined very clearly, but rather too state of the art in mass transfer. briefly for this to serve as a textbook for chemical engineering students. In addiADRIAN SCHUMPE tion, since this is a rather short and condensed text, the expert may notice that Technische Chemie, Universitdt Oldensome information is missing. However, burg, D-2900 Oldenburg, FRG.
Clear and concise outline of mass transfer MASS TRANSFER IN ENGINEERING PRACTICE
by Aksel L. Lydersen, John Wiley and Sons, 1983. £19.90 (hardback)£9.90 (paper) (xiii + 321 pages), ISBN 0 471 10437X (hardback), ISBN 0 47110462 0
(paper). The first chapter of this book concisely outlines the principles of diffusion as a general basis for the understanding of mass transfer operations. Starting from Fick's law, the phenomena of Stephan diffusion, non-steady state diffusion and eddy diffusion are explained and the concept of mass transfer coefficients is introduced. The following chapters are devoted to specific mass transfer operations. Distillation is covered most intensively followed by extraction/leaching and gas absorption/desorption. Shorter chapters consider humidification of gases, drying of solids, adsorption/ion exchange, and crystallization. All the chapters are well organized and may be studied independently. Each is supplied with separate lists of symbols and references and the fundamentals of each operation are outlined in a condensed form. Basic design equations and empirical data are discussed in more detail and applied in workedthrough examples. The data needed to solve these and additional problems is provided in appendix tables which are taken from classical chemical engineering without particular reference to biotechnology. Apart from improving the fundamental understanding of mass
Up-to-date reviews on commercial enzymes INDUSTRIAL AND DIAGNOSTIC ENZYMES
The major topics in this book, the proceedings of the meeting, are: (1) enzyme production and purification, edited by B. S. Hartley, T. Atkinson and (2) lignocellulose, (3) applications for M. D. Lilly, The Royal Society, enzymes, and (4) diagnostic reagents. London, 1983. £27.10 (vi + 196pages) The opening paper by Young et al. I S B N 0 854 03207 X describes the use of Bacillus subtilis as The idea for a discussion meeting at the cloning system. This is of interest The Royal Society in June 1982 grew since much industrial experience has out of the expanding opportunities been accumulated over the past 30 that genetic engineering provides for years in enzyme production via ferthe large-scale synthesis of enzymes at mentation using this well characterreasonable costs. The current efforts ized, non-pathogenic organism. Subare aimed primarily at the synthesis sequent papers outline many of the of biologically active peptides, hor- detailed steps and problems in the mones, and growth factors; if the same isolation and purification of several intense efforts were employed to pro- intracellular enzymes on a milligram duce specific enzymes, would we scale and the growth (especially solidexpect this to have a dramatic impact state fermentation) and recovery of on industrial processing and medical today's industrial enzymes on a kilodiagnostic methodology? This meet- gram scale. Although lab-scale affinity; ing was designed to generate some new chromatography is discussed, it would thinking on these industrial/diagnostic have been more helpful to describe the present status of pilot scale and possibilities.
131
Trends in Biotechnology, Vol. 1, No. 4~1983 industrial scale chromatographic purification methods and to mention aqueous two-phase partition methods. The conversion of cellulose to fermentable sugars for conversion to ethanol or other chemical feedstocks has been verbalized and editorialized extensively during the past five years. The problems are still extensive. Therefore, it is surprising that the authors didn't select enzymatic processes with greater likelihood of industrial success, such as the enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactam antibiotics. Nevertheless, Lutzen and colleagues from Novo Industri provide a brief review of commercial enzymatic cellulose degradation. Subsequent papers cover the very difficult yet major problem of how to degrade lignin. One possibility is to use the enzyme laccase to catalyze the degradation of lignin through attack by oxygen free radicals. For comparison, the direct microbial conversion of cellulose to ethanol is reviewed as an alternative to the multistep enzyme production, cellulose hydrolysis, and fermentation conversion of the hydrolysis products to ethanol. The third major portion of the volume covers cofactor-requiring enzymatic systems, immobilized microbial cells and two-phase aqueousorganic enzymatic reactors. These
topics are all important for the longrange development of industrial enzymology; although many problems remain to be solved, especially for the cofactor-requiring systems. For the reader who wants a quick qualitative summary of the general methods used in the immobilization of microbial cells, the paper by Bucke should suffice, but must he look elsewhere for detailed methodology. Much of the discussion in the papers on cofactor systems is old stuff that has been published previously in many versions. Still, several relatively new concepts do convey the small but steady progress being made in the cofactor area. These include (1) some new, although not necessarily practical, methods for ATP regeneration; (2) covalent coupling of enzymes or cofactors through hydroxyl groups via sulphonyl chlorides; (3) covalent attachment of alcohol dehydrogenase and an NAD-spacer arm analog to the same support; and (4) the use of bis-NAD analogs to couple alcohol and lactate dehydrogenase to a support to give supposedly a face-to-face spatial arrangement. The idea of carrying out enzymatic reactions in miscible aqueous-organic solvent systems was studied experimentally about 10 years ago. However, few papers have appeared on non-miscible aqueousorganic systems. The paper by Lilly is
recommended for those readers interested in enzymatic conversions of steroids, fats and other materials of low water solubility. The final section contains two short papers that review the use of enzymes in clinical chemistry. The idea of producing clinical enzymes using thermophilic bacteria may improve the stability of these enzymes and thus improve the shelf life. However, in my opinion the main trend will lie not in producing cheaper enzymes but in developing new tests of diagnostic importance. In summary, this book is very readable and contains well written reviews concerned primarily with industrial enzymes. Several relatively new ideas will interest those actively working in applied enzymology, biochemical engineering, and various facets of biotechnology. The book is recommended for those persons wishing to stay up-todate with this portion ofbiotechnology. It will probably not contain anything new for the real experts in immobilized enzymes and cells; although the well written reviews may still provide useful reading for this group.
Timely symposiumproceedings
which he underlines the fact that his discovery ofmonoclonal antibodies was an unexpected by-product of pure basic research, and puts forward his firm belief that 'it is the incentive of scientifc curiosity.., that is the main stimulus for most quantum jumps in technology'. After an introduction by P. Leder about the organization of mammalian genomes, including all the recent findings about the complex structure of some genetic loci, genomic changes and moving genes, the book continues with 5 chapters dealing with different aspects of today's advanced biotechnotogy: techniques of eukaryotic cell culture, mon0clonal antibodies, in vitro synthesis of DNA and proteins, gene cloning into eukaryotic cells and biological activities of cloned gene products. The articles are usually written in a style that reflects their oral presentation, which makes them easy and attractive to read and each is
followed by an extensive list of references and a discussion among the participants. The final section of the book includes over 70 short communications. In my opinion, the panel discussion on 'Horizons in biotechnology' was not very interesting, due to the very concentrated form of the presentations (5 minute talks). Some of the issues discussed, like the effects of patents on biological research and the possible new interactions between universities and industries suggested by modern biotechnologies, would have deserved full lectures. Altogether, this is a very useful book for biologists, graduate students, MDs interested in new developments of pharmacology, and managers with an open mind.
FROM GENE TO PROTEIN: TRANSLATION INTO BIOTECHNOLOGY
F. Ahmad, J. Schultz, E. E. Smith and IV. ,,7. IVhelarb Academic Press, 1083. £29.80, $45.00 (xxii + 589pages) I S B N 012O4556O9 Nineteenth of a series of volumes from the well known Miami Winter Symposia, this timely book is actually more than the usual congress proceedings, where you flip through the pages looking for the abstracts of people you know. It is a real book, with well organized chapters, subdivided in long articles of 10-20 pages each. Each article is in fact a short review on a well defined topic, often including detailed descriptions of experimental procedures. The book starts with an autobiographic lecture by C. Milstein, in
LEMUEL B. WINGARDJR.
Professor of Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 USA.
GABRIELEMILANESI Istituto di Genetica Biochimica ed Evoluzionistica CNR, Pavia, Italy.
130
is less clear is: would Britain have a biotechnology industry which was productive? A national plan for biotechnology needs actors to play in it and in a society in which reward is largely the same as material gain the measures outlined by Dr Yoxen are mostly irrelevant: scientists are given more laboratory resources and can acquire more money in North America, especially in biotechnology firms. This is illustrated by the recent exodus of several leading exponents of molecular biology all of whom are running research programs for major foreign biotechnology firms. (Socialist solutions must confront capitalist competition.)
The subsidiary theme of the Gene science is pitched at the 'super boffin Business and underlying theme of the discovers miracle cure' level. The Crucible series is the democratic control of science: the participation of an informed populace in deciding scientific policy after open debate. As part of this debate the Gene Business itself is a welcome addition especially as it strives to present the background needed for an informed discussion. Surprisingly, the rest of the media is almost totally ignored by Dr Yoxen. Perhaps the reluctance of scientists to debate science is illusory and only a reflection of media reluctance to explain complex arguments in presentations that contain more information than entertainment. Too often the discussion of
answer lies back in the schools where teachers must introduce science into our culture. It is probably this desire to get back to school days which causes Dr Yoxen to describe scientists as a 'highly self regarding elite' of 'mandarins' - an unhelpful contribution to the debate using language more appropriate to the school playground. P. GOODFELLOW
Human Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, UK.
the book does serve as an excellent refresher course on mass transfer transfer, the author has set out to give operations outside one's own speciality. realistic examples of calculations en- It may particularly meet the needs of countered in engineering practice. engineers who are faced with unAbout one-fourth of the book is devoted familiar design problems and want a to this purpose, which may be regarded brief guideline for the necessary calculations. The up-to-date reference lists as its very backbone. Fundamentals of mass transfer are provide access to more details on the outlined very clearly, but rather too state of the art in mass transfer. briefly for this to serve as a textbook for chemical engineering students. In addiADRIAN SCHUMPE tion, since this is a rather short and condensed text, the expert may notice that Technische Chemie, Universitdt Oldensome information is missing. However, burg, D-2900 Oldenburg, FRG.
Clear and concise outline of mass transfer MASS TRANSFER IN ENGINEERING PRACTICE
by Aksel L. Lydersen, John Wiley and Sons, 1983. £19.90 (hardback)£9.90 (paper) (xiii + 321 pages), ISBN 0 471 10437X (hardback), ISBN 0 47110462 0
(paper). The first chapter of this book concisely outlines the principles of diffusion as a general basis for the understanding of mass transfer operations. Starting from Fick's law, the phenomena of Stephan diffusion, non-steady state diffusion and eddy diffusion are explained and the concept of mass transfer coefficients is introduced. The following chapters are devoted to specific mass transfer operations. Distillation is covered most intensively followed by extraction/leaching and gas absorption/desorption. Shorter chapters consider humidification of gases, drying of solids, adsorption/ion exchange, and crystallization. All the chapters are well organized and may be studied independently. Each is supplied with separate lists of symbols and references and the fundamentals of each operation are outlined in a condensed form. Basic design equations and empirical data are discussed in more detail and applied in workedthrough examples. The data needed to solve these and additional problems is provided in appendix tables which are taken from classical chemical engineering without particular reference to biotechnology. Apart from improving the fundamental understanding of mass
Up-to-date reviews on commercial enzymes INDUSTRIAL AND DIAGNOSTIC ENZYMES
The major topics in this book, the proceedings of the meeting, are: (1) enzyme production and purification, edited by B. S. Hartley, T. Atkinson and (2) lignocellulose, (3) applications for M. D. Lilly, The Royal Society, enzymes, and (4) diagnostic reagents. London, 1983. £27.10 (vi + 196pages) The opening paper by Young et al. I S B N 0 854 03207 X describes the use of Bacillus subtilis as The idea for a discussion meeting at the cloning system. This is of interest The Royal Society in June 1982 grew since much industrial experience has out of the expanding opportunities been accumulated over the past 30 that genetic engineering provides for years in enzyme production via ferthe large-scale synthesis of enzymes at mentation using this well characterreasonable costs. The current efforts ized, non-pathogenic organism. Subare aimed primarily at the synthesis sequent papers outline many of the of biologically active peptides, hor- detailed steps and problems in the mones, and growth factors; if the same isolation and purification of several intense efforts were employed to pro- intracellular enzymes on a milligram duce specific enzymes, would we scale and the growth (especially solidexpect this to have a dramatic impact state fermentation) and recovery of on industrial processing and medical today's industrial enzymes on a kilodiagnostic methodology? This meet- gram scale. Although lab-scale affinity; ing was designed to generate some new chromatography is discussed, it would thinking on these industrial/diagnostic have been more helpful to describe the present status of pilot scale and possibilities.
131
Trends in Biotechnology, Vol. 1, No. 4~1983 industrial scale chromatographic purification methods and to mention aqueous two-phase partition methods. The conversion of cellulose to fermentable sugars for conversion to ethanol or other chemical feedstocks has been verbalized and editorialized extensively during the past five years. The problems are still extensive. Therefore, it is surprising that the authors didn't select enzymatic processes with greater likelihood of industrial success, such as the enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactam antibiotics. Nevertheless, Lutzen and colleagues from Novo Industri provide a brief review of commercial enzymatic cellulose degradation. Subsequent papers cover the very difficult yet major problem of how to degrade lignin. One possibility is to use the enzyme laccase to catalyze the degradation of lignin through attack by oxygen free radicals. For comparison, the direct microbial conversion of cellulose to ethanol is reviewed as an alternative to the multistep enzyme production, cellulose hydrolysis, and fermentation conversion of the hydrolysis products to ethanol. The third major portion of the volume covers cofactor-requiring enzymatic systems, immobilized microbial cells and two-phase aqueousorganic enzymatic reactors. These
topics are all important for the longrange development of industrial enzymology; although many problems remain to be solved, especially for the cofactor-requiring systems. For the reader who wants a quick qualitative summary of the general methods used in the immobilization of microbial cells, the paper by Bucke should suffice, but must he look elsewhere for detailed methodology. Much of the discussion in the papers on cofactor systems is old stuff that has been published previously in many versions. Still, several relatively new concepts do convey the small but steady progress being made in the cofactor area. These include (1) some new, although not necessarily practical, methods for ATP regeneration; (2) covalent coupling of enzymes or cofactors through hydroxyl groups via sulphonyl chlorides; (3) covalent attachment of alcohol dehydrogenase and an NAD-spacer arm analog to the same support; and (4) the use of bis-NAD analogs to couple alcohol and lactate dehydrogenase to a support to give supposedly a face-to-face spatial arrangement. The idea of carrying out enzymatic reactions in miscible aqueous-organic solvent systems was studied experimentally about 10 years ago. However, few papers have appeared on non-miscible aqueousorganic systems. The paper by Lilly is
recommended for those readers interested in enzymatic conversions of steroids, fats and other materials of low water solubility. The final section contains two short papers that review the use of enzymes in clinical chemistry. The idea of producing clinical enzymes using thermophilic bacteria may improve the stability of these enzymes and thus improve the shelf life. However, in my opinion the main trend will lie not in producing cheaper enzymes but in developing new tests of diagnostic importance. In summary, this book is very readable and contains well written reviews concerned primarily with industrial enzymes. Several relatively new ideas will interest those actively working in applied enzymology, biochemical engineering, and various facets of biotechnology. The book is recommended for those persons wishing to stay up-todate with this portion ofbiotechnology. It will probably not contain anything new for the real experts in immobilized enzymes and cells; although the well written reviews may still provide useful reading for this group.
Timely symposiumproceedings
which he underlines the fact that his discovery ofmonoclonal antibodies was an unexpected by-product of pure basic research, and puts forward his firm belief that 'it is the incentive of scientifc curiosity.., that is the main stimulus for most quantum jumps in technology'. After an introduction by P. Leder about the organization of mammalian genomes, including all the recent findings about the complex structure of some genetic loci, genomic changes and moving genes, the book continues with 5 chapters dealing with different aspects of today's advanced biotechnotogy: techniques of eukaryotic cell culture, mon0clonal antibodies, in vitro synthesis of DNA and proteins, gene cloning into eukaryotic cells and biological activities of cloned gene products. The articles are usually written in a style that reflects their oral presentation, which makes them easy and attractive to read and each is
followed by an extensive list of references and a discussion among the participants. The final section of the book includes over 70 short communications. In my opinion, the panel discussion on 'Horizons in biotechnology' was not very interesting, due to the very concentrated form of the presentations (5 minute talks). Some of the issues discussed, like the effects of patents on biological research and the possible new interactions between universities and industries suggested by modern biotechnologies, would have deserved full lectures. Altogether, this is a very useful book for biologists, graduate students, MDs interested in new developments of pharmacology, and managers with an open mind.
FROM GENE TO PROTEIN: TRANSLATION INTO BIOTECHNOLOGY
F. Ahmad, J. Schultz, E. E. Smith and IV. ,,7. IVhelarb Academic Press, 1083. £29.80, $45.00 (xxii + 589pages) I S B N 012O4556O9 Nineteenth of a series of volumes from the well known Miami Winter Symposia, this timely book is actually more than the usual congress proceedings, where you flip through the pages looking for the abstracts of people you know. It is a real book, with well organized chapters, subdivided in long articles of 10-20 pages each. Each article is in fact a short review on a well defined topic, often including detailed descriptions of experimental procedures. The book starts with an autobiographic lecture by C. Milstein, in
LEMUEL B. WINGARDJR.
Professor of Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 USA.
GABRIELEMILANESI Istituto di Genetica Biochimica ed Evoluzionistica CNR, Pavia, Italy.