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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

A New Screening Method for the Directed Evolution of Thermostable Bacteriolytic Enzymes
Published on: November 7, 2012
Engineering enzymes for non-aqueous solvents
1Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91125.
Abstract:
Enzymes may be redesigned to permit catalysis in non-aqueous solvents by engineering their amino acid sequences, thereby altering their physical and chemical properties to suit the new solvent environment. The interactions that contribute to protein stability in non-aqueous solvents are discussed in the context of attempting to identify possible approaches to constructing enzymes which exhibit enhanced stability in non-aqueous media. These approaches are illustrated by several examples where protein engineering has resulted in enzymes that are better suited for catalysis in organic solvents.
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