Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/L72091/01
Title:	CATALYTIC DEHALOGENATION BY MUTANTS OF CYTOCHROME P450CAM
Principal Investigator:	Hill, Professor H
Other Investigators:	Wong, Professor LL
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	British Gas
Department:	Oxford Chemistry
Organisation:	University of Oxford
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	09 March 1998	Ends:	08 March 2001	Value (£):	182,023
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Assess/Remediate Contamination
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Environment
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The research project aims to develop a biosensor for the on-site, real-time determination of polyhalogenated organic compounds on contaminated land. These contaminants are ubiquitous in the environment because they are chemically inert and, once released, accumulate in the biosphere. Their toxicity has raised public concern on the impact on the quality of life. A convenient biosensor will be of considerable benefit to risk assessment, hazard management, and characterization of contaminated sites for possible reclamation and regeneration's, The biosensing protocol is abased on the electrochemically-driven catalytic turnover of these contaminants by the haem monooxygenase enzyme cytochrome P450cam. The electrochemistry research programme will use a commonly found polyhalogenated contaminant to establish the details of the sensing protocol. The activity of the enzymes, the catalytic current response, and the most suitable solvent system will be determined. A parallel rational protein engineering programme will generate a range of active site mutants designed to discriminate between halogenated aliphatic and aromatic organic compounds, and to achieve selectivity within each class of compounds. A sensor array based on the direct electrochemistry of novel engineered enzymes and capable of sensing multiple analyte simultaneously will be a significant scientific advance.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk Summary Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.ox.ac.uk