The power of evolution is revealed through the diversity of life. The 2018 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have taken control of evolution and used it for purposes that bring the greatest benefit to humankind. Enzymes produced through directed evolution are used to manufacture everything from biofuels to pharmaceuticals. Antibodies evolved using a method called phage display can combat autoimmune diseases and in some cases cure metastatic cancer.
Since the first seeds of life arose around 3.7 billion years ago, almost every crevice on Earth has filled with different organisms. Life has spread to hot springs, deep oceans and dry deserts, all because evolution has solved a number of chemical problems. Life’s chemical tools – proteins – have been optimised, changed and renewed, creating incredible diversity.
This year’s Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have been inspired by the power of evolution and used the same principles – genetic change and selection – to develop proteins that solve mankind’s chemical problems.
One half of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Frances H. Arnold. In 1993, she conducted the first directed evolution of enzymes, which are proteins that catalyse chemical reactions. Since then, she has refined the methods that are now routinely used to develop new catalysts. The uses of Frances Arnold’s enzymes include more environmentally friendly manufacturing of chemical substances, such as pharmaceuticals, and the production of renewable fuels for a greener transport sector.
The other half of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry is shared by George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter. In 1985, George Smith developed an elegant method known as phage display, where a bacteriophage – a virus that infects bacteria – can be used to evolve new proteins. Gregory Winter used phage display for the directed evolution of antibodies, with the aim of producing new pharmaceuticals. The first one based on this method, adalimumab, was approved in 2002 and is used for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel diseases. Since then, phage display has produced anti-bodies that can neutralise toxins, counteract autoimmune diseases and cure metastatic cancer.
We are in the early days of directed evolution’s revolution which, in many different ways, is bringing and will bring the greatest benefit to humankind.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2018/press-release/
Nobel Prize for Chemistry goes to "directed evolution of enzymes and phage display"
- 1,092 views
- Added
Edited
Latest News
A new Covid infection mechanism
Connectomic comparison of mouse and human cortex
Intestinal cells and lactic acid bacteria work together to protect against Candida infections
ALS may be linked to both the immune and central nervous systems
Role of urea cycle in Alzheimer's disease
Other Top Stories
Caspases role in non-apoptotic signaling to control cellular homeostasis
Receptor for myelin formation identified!
Role of microRNA in bone formation
Starving eye cells contribute to blindness in elders
When Parkinson's proteins become toxic to brain cells
Protocols
A behavioral paradigm for measuring perceptual distances in mice
Rapid detection of an Ebola biomarker with optical microring resonators
Engineered AAVs for non-invasive gene delivery to rodent and non-human primate nervous systems
Eosin whole-brain mount staining to analyze neurodegeneration in a fly model of Alzheimer's disease
3D pose estimation enables virtual head fixation in freely moving rats
Publications
Pathogen-sugar interactions revealed by universal saturation transfer analysis
Blood flow meets mitophagy
A brainstem circuit for nausea suppression
Lactobacillus rhamnosus colonisation antagonizes Candida albicans by forcing metabolic adaptation…
The mitochondrial pyruvate carrier regulates memory T cell differentiation and antitumor function
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
Lipids
Cell biology of carbohydrate metabolism
RNA interference (RNAi)
RNA structure and functions
Posters
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CANCER–KIDNEY AND BLADDER
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CANCER–PROSTATE, TESTICULAR, AND PENILE
ASCO-2020-GYNECOLOGIC CANCER