Hekarl Uzir

I am currently looking for a candidate either MSc. or PhD. to undertake a research work into the synthesis of a chiral precursor of a drug known as Tapentadol, 3-[(1R,2R)-3-dimethylamino-1-ethyl-2-methylpropyl] phenol. This challenging pursuit requires candidates who are good in chemistry and molecular biology and able to work independently. It is a multi-disciplinary project that integrates organic chemistry with molecular biology and biochemical engineering, which combines experts from the School of Biological Sciences, Professor Nazalan Najimuddin and Professor Dato' Hasnah Osman from the School of Chemical Sciences.

To those interested, please drop me a line at chhekarl@usm.my or call at the direct number at 04-5996464.

Thank you.

~MHU~

The world of chirality in organic chemistry is so fascinating that it sometimes keeps you thinking on the bond formation through oxidation or even other complex chemical reactions. When talking about bond formation via oxidation of a fine chemical compound such as (+)-valencene, one might wonder, at which position and why at that only position? Through chemical synthesis, the process could be so challenging that perhaps, only less than 50% yield is obtained (upon a number of chemical reactions with a range of chemical reagents).

However, this could be simplified through biotransformation with the help of living organisms. The above diagram provides one example of the oxidation of a terpene group into a ketone compound. The question now is why at that particular position that the enzyme specifically attacks and which protein(s) actually does the work?

If you are interested in finding the answers to the very questions, please send me an email at chhekarl@usm.my and we could explore the interconnection between living organisms and organic chemistry.

Thank you.

~MHU~

Pollution due to exhaust gases has become a concern throughout the world. The accumulation of these gases, particularly carbon dioxide is one of the major causes of global warming, which led to climate change and drought and consequently famine. Thus, in order to reduce the ever increasing carbon dioxide gas and at the same time fulfill the demand for world's energy requirement, a novel and yet sustainable and environmentally friendly source of energy must be sought, fast!

Bio-hydrogen is currently considered as the most promising bio-energy source, since upon combustion, not a slightest amount of carbon dioxide is released. Yet, the gas could even be reduced during the formation of hydrogen.

Bio-energy, especially those that resulted in clean combustion such as alcohol and hydrogen has nowadays become a very fast research topic across many research institutions in the world. Microalgae and cyanobacteria are the two clusters of microorganisms that produce these sources of bio-energy.

Due to the previous experience and expertise, Biocatalysis and Biotransformation Group is going to explore this challenging endeavor in perfecting the previous work on hydrogen producing cyanobacterium; Anabeana variabilis.

The work is going to concentrate on 2 rather diverse areas;

(1) molecular biology

(2) mathematical modelling

Based on the work carried out in 2012, Anabeana could only produce hydrogen until certain level of concentrations, beyond which the formation of oxygen would inhibit the enzyme responsible for the hydrogen synthesis. The current work will look into the ability of recombinant DNA via CRISPR technology in order to design an enzyme that hopefully could resist the existing molecular oxygen and thus, maximize the formation of hydrogen.

On a different perspective, a work based on mathematical modelling of the entire system of hydrogen production in a cyanobacterium will also be embarked. A number of attempts on describing the system have started nearly 5 years ago and comparisons have been made with that of the experimental results.

This challenging yet exciting task will offer you a vast amount of experience both in life sciences as well as engineering mathematics!

To those interested and have the ability in either molecular biology or mathematics background, you are welcome to join the group at the School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia by contacting me at chhekarl@usm.my

Thank you.

~MHU~