Directed protein evolution

Abstract

Enzymes can dramatically increase the rate of chemical reactions while acting stereoselective and regioselective and are therefore very attractive for industry. However, only few enzymes taken from nature work under the often harsh conditions required by industrial applications. Proteins with desired attributes can be obtained either by searching through the largely unknown naturally occurring species or by improving or altering already characterized proteins. Today, much research effort is devoted to adjusting various enzyme attributes to technical demands and to exploring nonnatural functions of enzymes. Two basic approaches are used to optimize enzymes to fullfill desired properties: rational design and directed evolution Fig. 36.1. © 2008 Humana Press.