Evolving New Enzymes
Burckhard Seelig recently joined the BioTechnology Institute as an Assistant Professor in the department
of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics. He completed postdoctoral work in Molecular Biology at
Harvard Medical School where he developed a novel technique through which new enzymes can be evolved in
the lab.
Seelig's research focuses on implementing Darwinian evolution in a test tube to generate novel
proteins with custom-made properties. New enzymes are generated by applying methods of in vitro selection
and evolution as well as by tailoring existing enzymes to a wide variety of useful properties. Novel protein enzymes
are generated from scratch-enzymes not found in nature by employing mRNA display technology to generate
libraries of proteins that are covalently linked to their coding mRNA. This stable connection between genotype and
phenotype allows for selection of proteins from large libraries with complexities well beyond the limits of
conventional screening technologies.
Seelig's research attempts to create enzymes as 'designer catalysts' because of the considerable interest
in harnessing the power of enzymes for the synthesis of chemicals and pharmaceuticals and for the conversion
of biomass.
SEELIG HOME PAGE
Click here to visit Burckhard Seelig's Home Page
