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Industrial Enzymes to be Produced at Yeditepe University

An indispensable factor of today's economy, enzymes will now be produced in Turkey

Enzymes are used as a final product and as an additive in many industries, from food to medicine, detergent to textile, and animal feed to agriculture. Sustainable and environmentally friendly economies prefer enzymes instead of using chemicals in their products, and the trade volume of enzymes is increasing day by day in the world market — unfortunately, Turkey imports almost all of the enzymes from abroad.

Yeditepe University Department of Genetics and Bioengineering instructor Assist. Prof. Dr. Emrah Nikerel and his team have developed a project to reduce the dependence on foreign sources in enzyme technology. The "Commercial Production of Important Enzymes used in the Food and Animal Feed Industry" project, which aims to improve enzyme production technologies and final products in Turkey, received support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Agricultural Research and Policy General Directorate (TAGEM). The project, which will be supported for three years, will produce essential enzymes for the industry at a pilot scale.

Under the supervision of Assist. Prof. Dr. Emrah Nikerel, the team, consisting of Prof. Dr. Fikrettin Sahin, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Ozhan Aytekin, Assist. Prof. Dr. Andrew J. Harvey and Assist. Prof. Dr. Bahar Soğutmaz Özdemir will work with Yeditepe Sağlık A.Ş. in partnership with the Industrial Biotechnology Laboratories.

Opening Meeting at the Yeditepe Laboratory

The opening meeting of the project, under the supervision of Assist. Prof. Dr. Emrah Nikerel was held in the laboratories of the Yeditepe University Genetics and Bioengineering Department. The meeting was attended by Yeditepe University Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Yeşim Ekinci, TAGEM Engineer M.Sc. Ülker Pamuk, researchers Assist. Prof. Dr. Bahar Soğutmaz Özdemir and Assist. Prof. Dr. Andrew Harvey, the research team of the Industrial Biotechnology Laboratory and Yeditepe University Project Management Office Manager Seçil Nişancı.