Scientists have broken the rules of enzyme engineering to unlock a new method for creating chemical reactions that could unlock a wide range of new applications – from creating new drugs to food production.
Scientists have broken the rules of enzyme engineering to unlock a new method for creating chemical reactions that could unlock a wide range of new applications – from creating new drugs to food production.
In their paper published today in Nature Catalysis, Professor Francesca Paradisi and Dr. Martina Contente of the University of Nottingham and the University of Bern show a new method to produce chemical molecules more efficiently through a new one step reaction in the enzyme.
Any textbook on enzymes will report on how the catalytic amino acids in any given enzyme family are highly conserved, they are in fact a signature of the type of chemistry an enzyme can do. Variations do occur and in some cases, if the replacing amino acid is similar, both can be found in significant proportion in Nature, but others can be much less common and are found only in a limited number of species.
Read more at: University of Nottingham
