Pharmaceutical Biocatalysis Drugs, Genetic Diseases, and Epigenetics

Volume 7 of the Jenny Stanford Series on Biocatalysis deals with several different aspects of pharmaceuticals, which include not only various applications of drugs and their metabolism but also natural resources for active pharmaceutical ingredients as well as the removal of pharmaceutical pollution. In detail, novel approaches for developing microbial fermentation processes to produce vitamin B6 using microorganisms are described together with novel routes for vitamin B6 biosynthesis. The other topics discussed are new approaches for producing the successful anticancer drug Taxol from naturally occurring precursors, molecular farming through plant engineering as a cost-effective means to produce therapeutic and prophylactic proteins, and successful screening of potent microorganisms producing L-asparaginase for various chemotherapeutic applications. Furthermore, microbial biotransformations in the production and degradation of fluorinated pharmaceuticals are described. The other chapters inform the reader about the biotransformation of xenobiotics/drugs in living systems, the degradation of pharmaceuticals by white-rot fungi and their ligninolytic enzymes, and the removal of pharmaceutical pollution from municipal sewage using laccase.

Fermentative Production of Vitamin B6 Jonathan Rosenberg, Björn Richts, and Fabian M. Commichau Exploring Alternative Taxol Sources: Biocatalysis of 7-ß-Xylosyl-10-Deacetyltaxol and Application for Taxol Production Wan-Cang Liu et al. Molecular Farming through Plant Engineering: A Cost Effective Approach to Produce Therapeutic and Prophylactic Proteins Prakash Narayana Reddy, Krupanidhi Srirama, and Vijaya R. Dirisala Microbial Biotransformations in the Production and Degradation of Fluorinated Pharmaceuticals Cormac D. Murphy and Aoife Phelan Successful Screening of Potent Microorganisms Producing L-Asparaginase Archana Vimal and Awanish Kumar Biotransformation of Xenobiotics in Living Systems Maja Ðanic and Momir Mikov Degradation of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds by White-Rot Fungi and Their Ligninolytic Enzymes Muhammad B. Asif and Faisal I. Hai Removal of Pharmaceutical Pollutions from Municipal Sewage Mediated by Laccases Thomas Hahn et al. Mechanism of Drug Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and Future Drug Discovery Ana Leticia Gori Lusa et al. Genome Editing and Gene Therapies: Complex and Expensive Drugs Peter Grunwald Epigenetic and Metabolic Alterations in Cancer Cells: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Approaches Chi Chun Wong and Jun Yu

Peter Grunwald studied chemistry at the Universities of Saarbrücken and Hamburg, Germany. He graduated in the field of high-frequency spectroscopy and then became a staff member of the Institute of Physical Chemistry. After receiving his PhD in physical chemistry, he founded a biotechnology research group. He was appointed professor in 2001.