While the researchers have not yet reached the point where they can design a promiscuous enzyme to make any kind of product they want, even one that does not occur in nature, this demonstration represents a significant step in that direction. The idea would be to one day be able to design an enzyme synthase that would evolve along a specific functional pathway to yield a desired molecular product, then introduce it into microbes for mass production. In addition to synthesizing therapeutic drugs, other possible applications would include flavors, fragrances and nutraceuticals.
"Our ultimate goal is to be able to put as much chemistry as we can into microbes," said Keasling, a pioneer and leading authority in the burgeoning scientific field of synthetic biology. "We can use microbes to do a lot of complicated chemistry, and the way in which this will be done is through the use of enzymes. One can imagine where you could take a series of promiscuous enzymes that would make different parts of a molecular compound, and combine them to obtain a final product that could do whatever you needed it to do."
Since plasticity residues also play other important biological roles, in addition to the evolution of promiscuous proteins, Keasling and Yoshikuni said their technology, with some modifications, could prove useful for designing novel functions into other types of enzymes and proteins, as well as protein ligands and receptors, transcription factors and antibodies.
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Contact: Lynn Yarris
lcyarris@lbl.gov
510-486-5375
DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
23-Feb-2006