Mexican varsity, Kannur University tie-up to study industrial enzymes

KANNUR: Kannur University will collaborate with Autonomous University of Coahuila (Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila), Mexico in the research on isolation of novel microbial strains from Mexican deserts and Western Ghats for the production of pharmaceutical and industrially important enzymes. A research proposal conceived and proposed by a team led by Dr A. Sabu from the university department of Biote-chnology and Microbiology along with Dr S. Shiburaj and Dr N.S. Pradeep, scientists from the Microbiology Division of Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram was approved by the Department of Science and Technology and the Mexican National Agency for Science and Technology (CONACyT).

The collaborating Mexican team is led by Dr Cristóbal Noé Aguilar González, Director and Dean of School of Chemical Sciences. During the period of collaboration, the team will work in Mexican deserts that are rich in biodiversity and the Mexican team will visit Kannur to exchange know-how and materials. Speaking to this newspaper, team head Dr A. Sabu said that the research is focused on the production of cellulase and tannase, which are very important in the manufacture of bio ethanol and pharmaceutical industry respectively.

“Using bio ethanol for fuel production is getting more importance globally. Earlier, food grains were used to make bio ethanol, but it raised the ethical question of using edible grains for fuel production. That's how the scientists turned to organic waste to produce bio-ethanol. Cellulase helps the cellulose in the biomass to convert to glucose and in turn to ethanol. In the same way, tannase which degrade tannin can be used in food processing and has high pharmaceutical importance,” he added. The first phase of the project which is part of India-Mexico International Science and Technology cooperation, is three years.

Scientific cooperation between Mexico and India has been mainly implemented through joint research projects. Over 120 visits, academic publications and joint workshops happened as part of the cooperation. During recent visit to Mexico City by the Prime Minister, cooperation on science and technology was highlighted as one of the priority areas.