title: Change, exchange, and rearrange: protein engineering for the biotechnological production of fuels, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals.
abstract: Enzymes are indispensable in the effort to produce chemicals from fuels to pharmaceuticals in an ecologically friendly manner. They have the potential to catalyze reactions with high specificity and efficiency without the use of hazardous chemicals. Nature provides an extensive collection of enzymes, but often these must be altered to perform desired functions under required conditions. Advances in protein engineering permit the design and/or directed evolution of enzymes specifically tailored for such industrial applications. Recent years have seen the development of improved enzymes to assist in both the conversion of biomass into fuels and chemicals, and the creation of key intermediates in pharmaceutical production.
authors.affiliation: Energy Biosciences Institute, The University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tullman-Ercek
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000600:supply & distribution; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D004798:Enzymes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D060847:Metabolic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000600:supply & distribution; D015202:Protein Engineering; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D004798:Enzymes; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations