OLIVER LENZ AT YSU

Dr. Lenz is the head of the “Biochemistry of gas-converting biocatalists” research group at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany.

The seminar was organized by Dr. Anna Poladyan, Associate Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology of YSU, who has established collaboration with Dr. Oliver Lenz within the frame of the German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD). Head of the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology at YSU, Professor Armen Trchounian mentioned: “Our department has received several grants from the German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD), providing opportunity for many of our scientists to visit various universities in Germany. The Department cooperates with numerous German universities, and I hope this seminar will not only be interesting and useful, but will also promote the establishment of new collaboration and implementation of further joint events”.

During his lectures, Dr. Lenz talked about the role of alternative ways of obtaining affordable and clean energy and biocatalysts. He spoke about different areas of application of hydrogenase enzymes and the results obtained from experiments in this field. Dr. Lenz presented experiments in which, for example, by combining the light-switching mechanism and hydrogenase activity, they were looking for new ways of producing hydrogen, which is an alternative source of ecologically clean energy. The role of hydrogenase enzymes as catalysts was also discussed during the lectures.

In an interview with us, Dr. Poladyan said that the collaboration with Dr. Lentz began two years ago. “We contacted them to obtain bacteria we needed. They’ve responded and provided the samples. The future cooperation has strengthened through DAAD. Oliver Lenz, in the first day of his visit at the university, told us:  “First of all I was warmly welcomed at YSU, both by students and lecturers. In addition, I am deeply impressed with the interest of the students and the desire to get new knowledge. I hope our collaboration will continue".