Peggy Bloebaum

Papers

Total Citations

167

H-Index

About

Peggy Bloebaum’s research career has been defined by pioneering work in industrial enzymology and recombinant protein production, with a particular focus on the large-scale manufacture of chymosin—a key enzyme in cheese production. Her most-cited paper, “Commercial Levels of Chymosin Production by Aspergillus” (1991, 167 citations), represents a landmark achievement in biotechnology. In this work, Bloebaum and her team demonstrated the first successful commercial-scale expression of a functional animal enzyme in a fungal host, Aspergillus niger, solving decades-old challenges of yield, stability, and cost. This breakthrough not only enabled the replacement of calf rennet in the global dairy industry—reducing ethical and economic pressures—but also established a foundational platform for producing other recombinant enzymes and proteins. Bloebaum’s contributions are widely credited with accelerating the transition from animal-derived to microbial fermentation-based production, a shift that has saved billions in manufacturing costs and improved supply chain sustainability. Her work remains a cornerstone of modern industrial biotechnology, cited extensively in both academic and applied contexts, and continues to inspire new generations of researchers in enzyme engineering and fungal expression systems.