In this lecture, I discuss the challenges of designing new proteins that fold into a particular structure or perform a particular function. One...
» More
In this lecture, I discuss the challenges of designing new proteins that fold into a particular structure or perform a particular function. One method is to computationally design a protein based solely upon our knowledge of amino acids and protein folding, a hard task but one which has had recent successes. Another approach is to screen combinatorial libraries of proteins for a desired function. In particular, I will discuss how structure-based computational methods can allow for high mutation rate (to explore a diversity of function) while maintaining stably folded structures (a necessity to preserve stability and function). In the last part of my talk, I discuss how we have used protein libraries to design a new blue fluorescent protein.
