Celebrating the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018. Directed evolution: from Charles R. Darwin to Frances H. Arnold Pere Clapés

Authors

  • Pere Clapés Institut de Química Avançada de Catalunya (IQAC-CSIC)

Keywords:

Biocatalysis, directed evolution, Frances H. Arnold, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018.

Abstract

One half of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Frances H. Arnold for her pioneering investigations of the directed evolution of enzymes, which are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. The directed evolution of enzymes is based on the Darwinian concept of natural selection, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved. Enzymes are the products of evolution, not of design, and by natural selection the best adapted organisms contain the most updated and optimized enzyme repertoires to effectively catalyze the metabolic reactions essential for their survival. The concept of natural selection taken to the laboratory on molecular level for a specific enzyme – with an evolutionary pressure defined by the researcher – in order to adapt its catalytic properties to given synthetic needs, is what is called directed evolution of enzymes. In this paper, the concept and methodologies of directed evolution are reviewed, as well as the main research work with applications in synthetic organic chemistry of the Nobel laureate Frances H. Arnold.

Keywords: Biocatalysis, directed evolution, Frances H. Arnold, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018.

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Author Biography

Pere Clapés, Institut de Química Avançada de Catalunya (IQAC-CSIC)

Pere Clapés és llicenciat en química per la Universitat de Barcelona i doctor en química per la mateixa universitat (1988). Després d’una etapa postdoctoral al Center for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering a la Universitat de Lund (Suècia), el 1993 comença la carrera científica independent a l’Institut de Química Avançada de Catalunya (IQAC-CSIC), on actualment és professor d’investigació. Ha publicat més de cent cinquanta articles d’investigació, incloent-hi patents en el camp de la biocatàlisi. La seva línia de recerca s’emmarca dins la investigació de carbolligases per a la formació asimètrica d’enllaços carboni–carboni, la descoberta de biocatalitzadors nous i llur optimització mitjançant tècniques d’enginyeria de proteïnes.

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Issue

No. 18 (2019)

Section

Articles

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