Protein Engineering Techniques

Industrial manufacturing processes often require the use of harsh conditions, specifically toxic chemicals, high temperatures, or extremes in pH. A large portion of biotechnology research is focused on replacing these processes with those mediated by enzymes, that can tolerate these extremes and reduce the use of chemicals, or perform the same reactions under more moderate conditions. Success in these areas of research might mean reduced harm to the environment, lower costs in terms of energy used, less dependence on non-renewable resources and less risk to production employees.

Many new techniques for improving the industrial effectiveness of pre-existing enzymes have been made possible since the discovery of PCR. These include DNA sequencing, site-directed mutagenesis and DNA shuffling. Other advances in biotech have lead to the development of methods that make it possible to screen large numbers of new recombinant or mutant microorganisms expressing the modified enzymes, and select the best one for a specific application. Large throughput screening has facilitated significant advances in enzyme technology in recent years, since we no longer have to test individual recombinant microorganisms, or their purified enzyme products, one at a time, for improved efficiency of a particular process.

Read more about these techniques as I add them under Technical Theory, and the Biotech/ Biomedical glossary and FAQs.