Areas of Research


The main research directions of the lab are:

1. Production of recombinant proteins for agricultural and medical uses. Recombinant proteins such as amylases, beta-galactosidase, chitinase, human interleukine 2, Dengue, Salmonella, influenza hemagglutinin antigens, enterocin AS-48, enterocin P of Enterococcus faecium have been successfully produced in different expression systems such as Salmonella Typhimurium, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Pichia pastoris. These recombinant proteins can be used for industries, pharmacy, food preservatives, Salmonella detection kits, vaccine development and cancer treatment respectively.

2. Separate, study properties and molecular mechanisms of scorpions and snakes' venom. Model and simulation of the interaction between peptides of scorpions' and snakes' venom and receptor so that orientating for drug development.

3. Develop PCR and ELISA kits to detect organisms which are infectious and harmful for human and animal based on the specificity of recombinant proteins: a kit using PCR technology to detect Ebstein-Barr virus (EBV) in biopsy samples from patients at early stage of nasopharyngeal carcinoma; two highly sensitive kits based on ELISA assay detecting the S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis infected chickens through specific antibodies against the pathogens in chicken serum; and a ongoing research focus on creation of a kit using LAMP technology to detect Edwardsiella ictaluri infected fish.

4. Production of recombinant sub-unit vaccines for poultry. Two ongoing research projects concentrate to develop vaccines against Salmonella and influenza A (H5N1) virus for poultry.

5. Modeling and stimulating molecular interaction of peptide and receptor in drug design.

6. Bioinformatics: establishing protein data bank, modeling and stimulation to study structure and properties of biological molecules.

The majority of research projects in the lab have collaboration with other laboratories within the Institute of Biotechnology, with other domestic Institutes such as the National Institute of Veterinary Research, Vietnam Institute of Agricultural engineering and post-harvest technology. International collaboration is also an important factor for the research work and development of the lab. We have received funded from the Japanese organizations, UNU-Kirin Co. and UNUWA, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and the Swedish Sida/SAREC organization for many research projects. We also collaborated with many international universities which help training our researchers for new research technologies and methods, such as Technical University of Berlin, University of Stuttgart, Uppsala University, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, National Institute of Scientific research (INRS) Armand- Frappier, Canada. Our researchers have learnt and applied successfully modern technologies like error prone PCR, DNA shuffling as well as techniques in cloning, selection of genes of interest; producing recombinant proteins using fermentation and purification; assessing immunogenicity of recombinant proteins