On Friday, May 8, 2026, newly appointed Professor for Biosystems Chemistry of Natural Products Prof. Ana I. Benítez-Mateos, presented her inaugural lecture in front of a fully packed auditorium at the TUM Center for Functional Protein Assemblies (CPA).

Prof. Stephan Sieber, co-director of the CPA, extended a warm welcome to the Department and the New Center for Smart Drug Design. Briefly reflecting on her career, including her most recent move from the ETH in Zürich to Munich, Sieber pointed out that both Benítez-Mateos and Prof. Thomas Schlichthärle, both appointed last year, will soon be able to move into the new CPA extension building currently under construction.

Benítez-Mateos first introduced the audience to the natural compounds she is interested in, showing their broad use in everyday life in products ranging from medication to food additives, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizer. Given the exponential increase in world population, coupled with an extended life expectancy, demand for these compounds has dramatically increased, causing increased waste production and possibly depletion of resources. The goal of her research is the more sustainable biosynthesis of these chemical commodities, increasing the efficiency of the process and reducing the production of waste products. To this end, Benítez-Mateos uses natural enzymes in a cell-free system, whereby the enzymes are bound to a support to increase their stability. As binding to a support can affect the conformation of the enzyme, and hence its activity, optimization of the binding method as well as selection of the optimal support is required for each enzyme used. Hereby the use of computer-based modelling is an important tool. 

Current research themes in her lab include the development of biodegradable supports, the co-immobilization of multi-step enzyme cascades with their cofactors needed for enzyme activity, optimization for membrane-bound enzymes, and compartmentalization of different steps of the reaction process. Using flow biocatalysis, the reaction process can be boosted due to the high control of each reaction step, and the superior mass transfer, leading to improved efficiency. The latest strategies being explored include the use of intrinsically disordered proteins (or protein fragments), to create protein assemblies serving as sub-compartments in which the enzymes can be stabilized and activity can be enhanced by providing specific conditions. The ultimate goal of her research is to create artificial metabolic cells capable of synthesizing chemical commodities efficiently, cost-effectively, and sustainably.

Since her arrival in Munich, Benítez-Mateos has been busy creating a team around herself, and planning and setting up the new lab. Moreover, she is organizing the 6^th NextGenBiocat symposium, which will take place in June at the TUM Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and the Catalysis Research Center (CRC). Clearly, the new scientific adventure has started!

Further information and links

• Prof. Dr. Ana I. Benítez-Mateos https://www.professoren.tum.de/en/benitez-mateos-ana
• New Center for Smart Drug Design  https://www.sdd.tum.de/sdd/home/
• TUM Center for Functional Protein Assemblies (CPA) https://www.cpa.tum.de/cpa/home/
• NextGenBiocat Conference https://nextgenbiocat.org/ 

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