Faculty Q&A
Daehwan Kim, Ph.D. Our new assistant professor of biology and the Hodson/Maryland Endowed Chair in Advanced Bioproducts Research and Education brings expertise from one of the largest food and biotechnology companies in Asia.
WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING RIGHT NOW? WHAT TYPE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY WORK DID YOU DO IN ASIA?
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HOOD MAGA ZINE
I
am currently teaching the Biology of Food and Nutrition lab and pursuing biofuels/bioenergy research as an assistant professor of biology. I’ve been here since fall 2018.
B
efore coming to the United States in 2013 for my graduate study, I joined a company called NongShim R&D Center as a researcher. It is one of the largest food and biotechnology companies in Asia, where I was involved in the development, testing and patenting of more than 10 varieties of processed food products. It was my role to find new approaches, apply for patents, publish papers, develop commercial products and solve problems. My work has dealt with biochemical conversion, ethanol production and microbial/ enzyme treatments. One interesting research project I conducted pertained to the enzymatic reactions of fatty acid. I discovered a substitute for capsaicin, an active component of chili peppers and an essential ingredient of noodle products. Synthesized capsiate has a 1,000-times milder taste than original capsaicin, which can be used to control the intensity of the spice’s flavorings. Capsiate also has pharmaceutical applications, since capsaicin is currently used as a painkiller for the temporary relief of minor aches and pains of muscles and joints associated with arthritis. With this finding from our work, we published one patent: “Method of manufacturing of capsiate analogues” (Kim et al., 2012).
