EVOLUTIONALLY GUIDED ENZYME DESIGN

A combination of ''rational'' and ''irrational'' strategies for the cr eation of enzymes with novel properties is proving to be a powerful co ncept in the field of enzyme engineering. Guided by principles of phys ical organic chemistry, rational design strategies are used to identif y suitable target enzymes and to choose appropriate molecular biologic al methods for engineering purposes. In contrast, irrational (or rando m) strategies are centered around the biological paradigm of stochasti c molecular evolution. As illustrated in this review, such a hybrid ap proach is particularly useful for the design of new modular enzymes. ( C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.