Enzyme Tested In Space By Malaysian Astronaut Gets US Patent

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- The Geobacillus Zalihae enzyme derived from protein crystallisation that was tested in space by Malaysian astronaut Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor last year has received a patent in the United States.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said the rights for the patent for the enzyme, named after researcher Prof Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abdul Rahman, were also filed in Malaysia, Europe and Japan.

"Four more items of research conducted in space on the same expedition, and involving cells and microbes, are in the final process of development and are expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year," Ongkili told reporters after launching a workshop on Microgravity Science here Tuesday.

The objective of the two-day workshop, which gathered 150 local and foreign participants, including 20 who presented research papers, was to study and discuss the experiments carried out by Dr Sheikh Muszaphar.

Meanwhile, Raja Noor Zaliha, of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), said the enzyme could be used for industrial purposes like in the production of cleansers, pharmaceutical products and food supplements.

"This enzyme can generate income and, if we produce this enzyme, it can provide job opportunities to graduates majoring in biotechnology.

"We can also sell the technology to other countries as the market potential for the enzyme is really big," she said.

She said the research on protein carried out in space was important as bigger protein crystals could be formed there, twice the amount that could be produced on earth.

"A bigger crystal is needed to view the structure of protein, how it acts and how it can be utilised fully," she said.

Dr Sheikh Muszaphar went into space in a Russian Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft on Oct 10 last year, conducted the experiments in the International Space Station (ISS) and returned to earth in a Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft on Oct 21.

-- BERNAMA