Marco Fraaije (left) accepting the BIOCAT science award at BIOCAT2018
Marco Wilhelmus Fraaije (born 7 December 1968) is a Dutch scientist whose research concerns
enzymology of
redox enzymes, enzyme discovery & engineering and
biocatalysis at the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB) at the
University of Groningen.[1][2][3][4]
Education
Marco Fraaije graduated in 1993 with a
Master of Science degree in Molecular Sciences at
Wageningen University.[5] Subsequently, he became a doctoral student at Wageningen University under supervision of Willem van Berkel focusing on the mechanism and structure of
flavoenzymes and was awarded his
PhD in
biochemistry in 1998.[6] Following his PhD, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher as
EMBO fellow in the
protein crystallography research group at the
University of Pavia. In 1999, he was made assistant professor at GBB at the
University of Groningen, and in 2007 he was appointed as associate professor. In 2012, he was made full professor in molecular enzymology.[5]
Research
Fraaije is active in the fields of
enzyme engineering and
biocatalysis.[1] His research mainly deals with discovery, engineering and exploration of novel
oxidative enzymes, with special emphasis on
flavin-containing enzymes.[7] Besides exploring the biocatalytic potential of these biocatalysts, he also aims at elucidating the molecular functioning of oxidative flavoenzymes.[2] He also has interest in evolutionary aspects of enzymology and in line with this he is board member of the geological museum Oertijdmuseum in
Boxtel.[8]
Marco Fraaije has a significant number of publications and four patents.[1][9] He has coordinated EU-funded projects including OXYGREEN (2008-2013),[10] ROBOX (2015-2019),[11] and OXYTRAIN (2017-2020).[12]
Awards
In 2018, Fraaije received the BIOCAT science award from the Biocat Society at the International Congress on Biocatalysis for his scientific achievement in the field of biocatalysis.[13] Other research prizes include the Unilever research prize, 1993; EMBO long-term fellowship, 1998; and the VICI-NWO research grant, 2016.[5]
In 2005, he became a member of the Biomolecular Chemistry division of the
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and currently chairs the Applied Biocatalysis division of the Dutch Biotechnology Society.[14]
Selected publications
Aalbers FS, Fraaije MW (2017) Coupled reactions by coupled enzymes: alcohol to lactone cascade with alcohol dehydrogenase-cyclohexanone monooxygenase fusions. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 101, 7557-7565.[15]
Beyer N, Kulig JK, Bartsch A, Hayes MA, Janssen DB, Fraaije MW (2017) P450BM3 fused to phosphite dehydrogenase allows phosphite-driven selective oxidations. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 101, 2319-2331.[16]
Romero E, Castellanos JR, Mattevi A, Fraaije MW (2016) Characterization and crystal structure of a robust cyclohexanone monooxygenase. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 55, 15852-15855. Selected as Biocatalysis Hot Paper.[17]
Brondani PB, Dudek HM, Martinoli C, Mattevi A, Fraaije MW (2014) Finding the switch: turning a Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase into a NADPH oxidase. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 136, 16966-16969 [18]
^Brondani, Patrícia B.; Dudek, Hanna M.; Martinoli, Christian; Mattevi, Andrea; Fraaije, Marco W. (2014-01-12). "Finding the Switch: Turning a Baeyer–Villiger Monooxygenase into a NADPH Oxidase". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 136 (49): 16966–16969.
doi:
10.1021/ja508265b.
ISSN0002-7863.
PMID25423359.