[SEMINAR] Artificial photosynthesis: fuels and pharmaceuticals from using solar power

Title: Artificial photosynthesis: fuels and pharmaceuticals from using solar power

Speaker: Tessel Bouwens

From: University of Cambridge

Abstract: Artificial leaves use solar power to generate synthetic molecules in a renewable fashion as an alternative to polluting fossil fuels. Scientific research has demonstrated that these artificial leaves (devices known as photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) enable pathways to create simple molecular fuels, such as H2. In this research, I aim to advance the field of artificial photosynthesis by creating a device that uses light to promote the conversion of simple starting compounds into valuable, complex chemicals, such as medicines. To deal with the inefficient catalysis in PECs, I employ evolutionarily-optimized biocatalysts to speed up the reactions.  Overall, a strategy to produce chiral building blocks for pharmaceuticals using a CO2-reducing enzyme cascade is demonstrated.

Short bio:  Since September 2022, Tessel Bouwens has been working as an NWO Rubicon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Reisner Lab at the University of Cambridge. She studied chemistry at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands where she graduated in 2016. She was awarded with her own PhD fellowship to work on artificial photosynthetic devices and obtained her PhD degree under supervision of Prof. Reek from the University of Amsterdam in 2021. Her current research focusses on developing an artificial photosynthetic device that uses solar energy to drive biocatalytic cascades for synthesizing medicines.