Implications of "Alchemy" for Enzyme Engineering

The Cambridge researchers' success in desinging and creating a new enzyme could have significant impact on protein biotechnology. The importance of this result is not that a new enzyme has been created, but that the new enzyme was created by conferring new chemical activity upon a pre-existing structure.

Starting from two pre-existing enzymes having the same structural element -- the TIM barrel -- simplifies the guesswork involved in predicting the location and identity of residues to be altered. Also, since the structural element is functional in both parent enzymes, the probability is high that the structure of the new enzyme will be stable as well. In devising this "alchemic," efficient method for the synthesis of new enzymes, the Cambridge team sets a precedent for other researchers to follow in their quest for "gold" -- functional, engineered enzymes.
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Nikki Jarrett,11/20/00
Biochemistry 462bH, Dr. D. Bourque