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Fancy footwork in the sequence space shuffle

Nature Biotechnology volume 24, pages 328–330 (2006)Cite this article

Recent reports on directed evolution broaden the scope of evolutionary enzyme engineering.

If we were able to explore all possible proteins, we would likely find fantastical molecules that might solve any number of human problems. The riches of sequence space include cures for cancer and solutions to the energy crisis, along with countless other valuable molecules. Unfortunately, such a comprehensive exploration is not even remotely possible, as sequence space is Vastly—for “Very-much-more-than-astronomically”—large1. Just a single copy of each 300-amino acid sequence, for example, would fill dozens of universes. That nature has explored only the tiniest fraction of this space over the entire history of life on Earth should leave protein engineers excited about their own opportunities for discovery.

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Figure 1: Random circular permutation provides access to some of the riches of sequence space.

Bob Crimi

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  1. Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, 91125, California, USA

    Frances H Arnold

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  1. Frances H Arnold
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Arnold, F. Fancy footwork in the sequence space shuffle. Nat Biotechnol 24, 328–330 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0306-328

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