S. Korean researchers successfully mass produce amino acids

SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korean researchers have successfully mass
produced amino acids that are widely used in precision chemicals, pharmaceuticals
and food products, a local university said Wednesday.

Ewha Womans University in Seoul said a team led by Kim Kwan-mook, a scientist at
its nano-bio materials research center, successfully created a Alanine Racemase
Chiral Analogue (ARCA) method that can help produce large quantities of the key
molecules for the first time in the world.
Amino acids are critical to life and the human metabolism. They are the building
blocks of proteins, used as a food additive, animal feed and have a wide range of
medical and chemical applications.
"Kim's team in cooperation with Aminolux Inc. -- a local biotech company --
carried out successful production test using ARCA," the school said.
It added that techniques was developed locally without foreign aid, in a
development that could give the country a good chance to enter the worldwide
amino acid market currently controlled by a handful of companies in the United
States and Japan.
Over the past 100 years the world has relied on the so-called enzyme method to
produce relatively small quantities of amino acids, raising prices.
Ewha added that the ARCA technique is easy to set up and does not create
environmental waste. This combination is expected to trigger high demand for the
newly developed production process both inside and outside the country.
The science and technology ministry, which funded research and development said
the new production method is capable of making over 700 types of amino acids.
"The discovery can have a far-reaching impact on the market as a whole and
transform the country into a major supplier if mass production facilities are
built," a official said.
The primary worldwide market for raw amino acids stood at US$10.8 billion in 2008
with the size ballooning to $8.1 trillion if all applications covering
pharmaceuticals are included.
Kim and Aminolux already announced their joint technological breakthrough on a
way to mass produce amino acids in the 2007 issue of the Journal of the American
Chemical Society. The work had also been selected as the "highlight" article in
the journal of Science.
The team announced they have developed a working model of the ARCA as of March
2009, and began research to mass produce the key molecules.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)

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