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Abstract
Recent advances in biocatalysis have strongly boosted its recognition as a valuable
addition to traditional chemical synthesis routes. As for any catalytic process, catalyst's
costs and stabilities are of highest relevance for the economic application in chemical
manufacturing. Employing biocatalysts as whole cells circumvents the need of cell
lysis and enzyme purification and hence strongly cuts on cost. At the same time, residual
cell wall components can shield the entrapped enzyme from potentially harmful surroundings
and aid to enable applications far from natural enzymatic environments. Further advantages
are the close proximity of reactants and catalysts as well as the inherent presence
of expensive cofactors. Here, we review and comment on benefits and recent advances
in whole cell biocatalysis.