Laboratory for Biochemistry was established in 1956 within the Food Technology Department of the Faculty of Technology, University of Zagreb. Since 1979, it has operated as a component of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology. Since its founding, the Laboratory has connected biochemistry teaching and related courses with research in yeast molecular biology, synthetic biology, and applied biotechnology.
Laboratory members teach basic and advanced biochemistry courses at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels within the Faculty. The research focus of the Laboratory has gradually shifted from fundamental biochemistry and enzymology toward yeast molecular biology, with a special emphasis on cell wall biogenesis and function as well as gene expression regulation – this direction remains the foundation upon which the current research work of the Laboratory rests. Today, research also includes yeast cell surface display, synthetic biology, whole-cell biosensors, and metabolic engineering.
The Laboratory maintains international research collaborations, including links with the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences/Imperial College London, CBM CNRS in Orléans, and partners within European research networks.