<p>The Harvard University research, published in the journal Nature, could ultimately allow the tailoring of custom pharmaceuticals and research tools from lab-grown proteins, nucleic acids, and other such compounds.<br /><br />According to the researchers, the new approach dubbed phage-assisted continuous evolution, or PACE, is 100 times faster than the conventional laboratory evolution and far less labour-intensive for scientists.<br /><br />"Most modern drugs are based on small organic molecules, but biological macromolecules may be better suited as pharmaceuticals in some cases," said Dr David Liu, a Harvard professor of chemistry and chemical biology who led the research.<br /><br />"Our work provides a new solution to one of the key challenges in the use of macromolecules as research tools or human therapeutics: how to rapidly generate proteins or nucleic acids with desired properties."<br /><br />Liu and his Harvard colleagues achieved up to 60 rounds of protein evolution every 24 hours by linking laboratory evolution to the life cycle of a virus that infects bacteria.<br /><br />This phage's life cycle of just 10 minutes is among the fastest known. Because this generation time is so brief, the phage makes a perfect vehicle for accelerated protein evolution.<br /><br />The PACE system uses E.coli host cells to produce the resulting proteins, to serve as factories for phage production, and to perform the key selection step that allows phage-carrying genes encoding desired molecules to flourish.<br /><br />In three separate protein evolution experiments, PACE was able to generate an enzyme with a new target activity within a week, achieving up to 200 rounds of protein evolution during that time.<br /><br />Conventional laboratory evolution methods, Liu said, would require years to complete this many rounds of evolution.<br /><br />Evolution of biomolecules is also a natural process, of course, but during biological evolution generation times tend to be very long and researchers have no control over the outcomes. <br /><br />Laboratory evolution (also called directed evolution) has been practiced for decades to generate biomolecules with tailor-made properties, but it has been very complex and time consuming.</p>.<p>"Laboratory evolution has generated many biomolecules with desired properties, but a single round of mutation, gene expression, screening or selection, and replication typically requires days or longer with frequent human intervention," the researchers wrote.<br /><br />"Since evolutionary success is dependent on the total number of rounds performed, a means of performing laboratory evolution continuously and rapidly could dramatically enhance its effectiveness.<br /><br /><br /></p>
<p>The Harvard University research, published in the journal Nature, could ultimately allow the tailoring of custom pharmaceuticals and research tools from lab-grown proteins, nucleic acids, and other such compounds.<br /><br />According to the researchers, the new approach dubbed phage-assisted continuous evolution, or PACE, is 100 times faster than the conventional laboratory evolution and far less labour-intensive for scientists.<br /><br />"Most modern drugs are based on small organic molecules, but biological macromolecules may be better suited as pharmaceuticals in some cases," said Dr David Liu, a Harvard professor of chemistry and chemical biology who led the research.<br /><br />"Our work provides a new solution to one of the key challenges in the use of macromolecules as research tools or human therapeutics: how to rapidly generate proteins or nucleic acids with desired properties."<br /><br />Liu and his Harvard colleagues achieved up to 60 rounds of protein evolution every 24 hours by linking laboratory evolution to the life cycle of a virus that infects bacteria.<br /><br />This phage's life cycle of just 10 minutes is among the fastest known. Because this generation time is so brief, the phage makes a perfect vehicle for accelerated protein evolution.<br /><br />The PACE system uses E.coli host cells to produce the resulting proteins, to serve as factories for phage production, and to perform the key selection step that allows phage-carrying genes encoding desired molecules to flourish.<br /><br />In three separate protein evolution experiments, PACE was able to generate an enzyme with a new target activity within a week, achieving up to 200 rounds of protein evolution during that time.<br /><br />Conventional laboratory evolution methods, Liu said, would require years to complete this many rounds of evolution.<br /><br />Evolution of biomolecules is also a natural process, of course, but during biological evolution generation times tend to be very long and researchers have no control over the outcomes. <br /><br />Laboratory evolution (also called directed evolution) has been practiced for decades to generate biomolecules with tailor-made properties, but it has been very complex and time consuming.</p>.<p>"Laboratory evolution has generated many biomolecules with desired properties, but a single round of mutation, gene expression, screening or selection, and replication typically requires days or longer with frequent human intervention," the researchers wrote.<br /><br />"Since evolutionary success is dependent on the total number of rounds performed, a means of performing laboratory evolution continuously and rapidly could dramatically enhance its effectiveness.<br /><br /><br /></p>