Tim Bugg, Professor of Biological Chemistry at Warwick University, suggests that in the next few decades, we’ll see the development of ‘bio-refiners’, producing a range of useful products from biomass in the same way that oil refineries produce chemicals from oil. a ‘bio-refinery’ mimics the process of photosynthesis that Nature uses to convert light into biochemical energy.
He is one of the panelists for the British Science Festival event on 15th September 2010, chaired by Sue Beardsmore where you can meet and talk with him. Please do come, or participate on-line — more information about how to do so will be posted shortly.
His personal research interests are the understanding of important enzyme-catalysed reactions. Major areas of interest are enzymes involved in the bacterial degradation of aromatic compounds, and enzymes involved in bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan biosynthesis, as targets for the development of novel antibacterial agents.