The developing toolkit of continuous directed evolution
- 22 May 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature Chemical Biology
- Vol. 16 (6), 610-619
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-020-0532-y
Abstract
Continuous directed evolution methods allow the key steps of evolution—gene diversification, selection, and replication—to proceed in the laboratory with minimal researcher intervention. As a result, continuous evolution can find solutions much more quickly than traditional discrete evolution methods. Continuous evolution also enables the exploration of longer and more numerous evolutionary trajectories, increasing the likelihood of accessing solutions that require many steps through sequence space and greatly facilitating the iterative refinement of selection conditions and targeted mutagenesis strategies. Here we review the historical advances that have expanded continuous evolution from its earliest days as an experimental curiosity to its present state as a powerful and surprisingly general strategy for generating tailor-made biomolecules, and discuss more recent improvements with an eye to the future.Keywords
Funding Information
- Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U01 AI142756)
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Human Genome Research Institute (RM1 HG009490)
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (R01 EB022376)
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R35 GM118062)
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Liu investigatorship)
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