Research Summary
Directed evolution, synthetic biology, protein engineering, biocatalysis, biofuels
Profile
We develop and apply new methods of protein engineering. Our lab pioneered ‘directed evolution' approaches that are used throughout the world to make everything from medicines to foods, textiles, consumer products, chemicals, and fuels. We are exploring hybrid computational/evolutionary methods in challenging applications. We are especially interested in the evolution of new enzymes (to catalyze reactions with no known biological counterparts) and understanding the mechanisms by which these new functions arise.