Biochemistry and Metabolism
Professor Janneke Balk is the Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Metabolism.
Researchers within the Department of Biochemistry and Metabolism investigate the structure and function of biological macromolecules and fundamental aspects of plant and microbial metabolism.
They aim to understand the mechanisms underpinning metabolic diversity and how to manipulate proteins, carbohydrates, small molecules and DNA, research which is facilitating advances of agricultural, environmental, medical and industrial importance.
Knowledge of biological processes at the atomic, molecular and metabolic levels is enabling a wide range of problems that concern macromolecules and their interactions to be addressed. This paves the way towards harnessing the potential of living organisms for the production of food, animal feed and pharmaceuticals, with the aim of promoting health, nutrition, food security and a sustainable agriculture.
The Department’s research spans a wide range of disciplines from chemistry, biochemistry and genetics to computational and synthetic biology.
Embedded within the Department are platform services which support state-of-the-art technologies, including;