Directed evolution in protein functionality improvement

Abstract

The dynamic evolution process has resulted in the myriad shapes, functions, and systems evident in every living organism. For centuries, people have been harnessing the power of evolution to produce new varieties of plants and animals, such as producing tomatoes from berries and Chihuahuas from wolves. Now scientists are using it to produce better molecules, ranging from drugs to industrial chemicals, and doing it in days or weeks rather than eons. The ingenious process, which creates genetic diversity and selects those with desired features in the laboratory, is called directed evolution or test tube evolution. In this paper, concepts of directed molecular evolution and some examples will be discussed.