Panjab University faculty granted yet another patent: this time for low cost media

Chandigarh, August 26, 2022: With the changes in conventional academic culture, the researchers and innovators are now inclined towards protecting and commercializing their intellectual property. Dr. Rohit Sharma (Department of Microbial Biotechnology, PU and head BioNEST-PU) has been granted yet another patent for his team’s innovations. The patent entitled, “Improved culture medium for nitrile hydrolyzing microbes” was granted on 25th August 2022.

Dr. Sharma and his team is well-versed with extremophilic enzymes i.e., the enzymes from microbial sources which are capable of functioning in extreme environmental conditions and thus have a wide range of industrial and biotechnological applications. One such enzyme is the nitrile-hydrolyzing enzyme, the nitrilase which has a major application in biodegradation of toxic and recalcitrant industrial wastes and is also a key player in the synthesis of multiple carboxylic acid-based compounds. The enzyme is also known to mediate the synthesis of multiple high-value commercials, mainly pharmaceuticals and also sells globally as a bulk enzyme. It also has a capability of cleansing the environment by transforming recalcitrant compounds. In their quest for nitrile hydrolyzing microbes for industrial use, Dr. Sharma’s team included three students of Panjab University who are now placed in MNCs and are living overseas, along with a startup company which collaborated with them to further this technology to the market.

This novel media will serve as a low-cost alternative production media for fermentation of high value enzymes. Thus, dynamically reducing the production cost for large scale production of such extremozymes from extremophiles and hence the cost of high value commercials produced thereof.

Dr. Sharma explained the importance of these high value enzymes from various microbial sources, that are being researched upon by his team. He emphasized that the industry today is looking for alternative inexpensive methods for production of high value chemicals on large scale. Dr. Rohit Sharma along with his team has been recipient of many accolades for their research and innovations.