Daiha Karina de Godoy, Angeli Renata, de Oliveira Sabrina Dias, Almeida Rodrigo Volcan
Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
Unidade de Biologia, Centro Universitário Estadual da Zona Oeste, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
PLoS One. 2015 Jun 25;10(6):e0131624. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0131624. eCollection 2015.
The great potential of lipases is known since 1930 when the work of J. B. S. Haldane was published. After eighty-five years of studies and developments, are lipases still important biocatalysts? For answering this question the present work investigated the technological development of four important industrial sectors where lipases are applied: production of detergent formulations; organic synthesis, focusing on kinetic resolution, production of biodiesel, and production of food and feed products. The analysis was made based on research publications and patent applications, working as scientific and technological indicators, respectively. Their evolution, interaction, the major players of each sector and the main subject matters disclosed in patent documents were discussed. Applying the concept of technology life cycle, S-curves were built by plotting cumulative patent data over time to monitor the attractiveness of each technology for investment. The results lead to a conclusion that the use of lipases as biocatalysts is still a relevant topic for the industrial sector, but developments are still needed for lipase biocatalysis to reach its full potential, which are expected to be achieved within the third, and present, wave of biocatalysis.
自1930年J. B. S. 霍尔丹的著作发表以来，脂肪酶的巨大潜力就已为人所知。经过八十五年的研究与发展，脂肪酶如今仍是重要的生物催化剂吗？为回答这个问题，本研究调查了应用脂肪酶的四个重要工业领域的技术发展情况：洗涤剂配方生产；有机合成，重点是动力学拆分、生物柴油生产以及食品和饲料产品生产。分析分别基于作为科技指标的研究出版物和专利申请展开。讨论了它们的发展演变、相互作用、各领域的主要参与者以及专利文件中披露的主要主题。应用技术生命周期概念，通过绘制累计专利数据随时间的变化曲线来构建S曲线，以监测每项技术对投资的吸引力。结果得出结论，脂肪酶作为生物催化剂的应用对工业领域而言仍是一个重要课题，但脂肪酶生物催化要充分发挥其潜力仍需进一步发展，预计这将在生物催化的第三次浪潮（即当前浪潮）中实现。
