# Biocatalysis

> Biocatalysis exploits enzymes and whole microbial cells as catalysts for synthetic chemistry, enabling reactions under mild aqueous conditions with high selectivity and minimal environmental burden. The field drives the transition from traditional chemical synthesis to greener, more efficient industrial processes across pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, food ingredients, and biofuels. Key research areas include enzyme engineering by directed evolution and computational design, cofactor regeneration systems, whole-cell biocatalysis, immobilised enzyme reactors, and flow biocatalysis in continuous manufacturing. Transformative tools include machine-learning-guided protein design, high-throughput microfluidic screening, and cryo-electron microscopy for active-site characterisation. The pharmaceutical industry is a major driver, as enantioselective biocatalytic steps now feature in routes to blockbuster drugs. Public funding from the European Horizon programme and NIH, combined with substantial industrial R&D, sustains the field rapid growth.

*Source: [https://selltoscientists.com/fields/biocatalysis/](https://selltoscientists.com/fields/biocatalysis/)*

**Researcher count:** 14,000
**Average funding:** $310,000/year

## Subfields

- enzyme engineering
- directed evolution
- whole-cell biocatalysis
- cofactor regeneration
- flow biocatalysis

## Key technologies

- directed evolution
- protein engineering
- high-throughput screening
- cryo-EM
- machine learning enzyme design

## Top institutions

- Caltech
- Delft University of Technology
- Graz University of Technology
- MIT
- University of Groningen

---

## Beton network

This site is part of the Beton network of open-source revenue intelligence and self-service data products. Related sites and resources:

- [Beton](https://www.getbeton.ai) — open-source revenue intelligence: turn product usage (PostHog, Stripe) into CRM signals
- [Sell to Scientists](https://selltoscientists.com) — research intelligence: find and reach academic researchers by field, H-index, grants, and industry ties
- [Sell to State](https://www.selltostate.com) — government procurement intelligence across 194 countries
- [GitHub](https://github.com/getbeton) — Beton open-source repositories (including [inspector](https://github.com/getbeton/inspector))
- [dev.to](https://dev.to/beton) — engineering write-ups and OSS pricing teardowns
- [Beton app](https://inspector.getbeton.ai) — the hosted product