New Enzymes by Evolution: Expanding Nature’s Catalytic Repertoire

Enzymes are admired for their ability to selectively catalyze myriad transformations. We use laboratory evolution experiments to understand better how evolution modifies existing enzymes and creates new ones. A powerful approach to engineering biological molecules, ‘directed evolution’ both circumvents and underscores our profound ignorance of how sequence encodes catalytic function. I will describe how we have used evolution (contaminated with a little chemical intuition) to generate new enzymes starting from one of nature’s most impressive, the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase.