Evolutionary Methods In Biotechnology

Miniturization and high throughput assay technology have brought the power of molecular evolution to the bioscience laboratory. Applied wisely, the evolutionary approach can quickly yield the desired result even where other methods have failed. From library generation by random or directed mutagenesis to screening and selection techniques -- the crucial steps for successful evolutionary biotechnology are described in detail in this practical guide that also includes valuable troubleshooting hints on frequently encountered problems. Modern methods for the surface display of peptides and proteins, selective enrichment of nucleic acid aptamers and high-throughput screening of industrial biocatalysts are explained, and computer-based methods for in silico protein and RNA engineering are described as an alternative to in vitro approaches. A special section covers the patenting regulations with regard to biotechnological innovations derived from directed evolution. As an added bonus, a CD-ROM is included that contains software tools for library design, selection of mutagenesis positions, and various predictive algorithms. In short, this practice oriented handbook is an indispensable tool for every scientist working in this interdisciplinary research area.

The essence of combinatorial chemistry or techniques involving "molecular diversity" is to generate enormous populations of molecules and to exploit appropriate screening techniques to isolate active components contained in these libraries. This idea has been the focus of research both in academia and in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry. Its developments go hand in hand with an exploding number of potential drug targets emerging from genomics and proteomics research. When the editors of Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology encouraged us to assemble the present volume on Combinatorial Chemistry in Biology, we immediately felt that this might prove quite beneficial for the audience of this series. The field of combinatorial chemistry extends over a broad range of disciplines, from synthetic organic chemistry to biochemistry, from material sciences to cell biology. Each of these fields may have its own view on this topic, something which is reflected in a growing number of monographs and "special editions" of jour nals devoted to this issue or aspects thereof. The title of the present volume of Springer-Verlag's series suggests that it also has its own special focus. And, generally speaking, this is not wrong: we would even claim the special focus of this volume is on the immunologically relevant aspects of combinatorial chemistry.

This volume explores the latest techniques used by researchers to study directed evolution (DE) at each stage of the Design-Build-Test-Learn cycle. Chapters in this book cover topics such as designing overlap extension PCR primers for protein mutagenesis; antha-guided automation of Darwin assembly for the construction of bespoke gene libraries; rapid cloning of random mutagenesis libraries using PTO-Quickstep; and DE of glycosyltransferases by a single-cell screening method. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Cutting-edge and comprehensive, Directed Evolution: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for scientists and researchers who are interested in learning more about this field and incorporating these studies into new experimental workflows.

This book traces the evolution of biotechnology from prehistoric organismal manipulation by our first settled ancestors through to speculation about future directions for the technology as it increasingly intersects with other high technologies such as IT and Nanotech. The trajectory is demonstrated by various events throughout history that have intersected or built on one another to lead to the forward progression of a technology.

Merged Evolution charts the implications of two major forces of change, information technology and biotechnology, combined with a third force, that of 'artifactual' information, which is handed down dichronically from computing device to computing device. Through developments anticipated in the near future, Dr. Goonatilake describes the merging of these three systems, a convergence which will profoundly affect the biological, social, and technical fields much more than previous studies have implied. Together these changes yield an entirely different history - and a different future of the world for life, nature and civilization. This book addresses the broader issue arising from these important developments using the unifying perspective of general evolutionary theory to yield a fresh and profound insight.

Researchers and practitioners in food science and technology routinely face several challenges, related to sparseness and heterogeneity of data, as well as to the uncertainty in the measurements and the introduction of expert knowledge in the models. Evolutionary algorithms (EAs), stochastic optimization techniques loosely inspired by natural selection, can be effectively used to tackle these issues. In this book, we present a selection of case studies where EAs are adopted in real-world food applications, ranging from model learning to sensitivity analysis.

This chapter focuses on evolutionary computation, in particular genetic programming, as examples of drawing inspiration from biological systems. We set the choice of evolution as a source for inspiration in context and discuss the history of evolutionary computation and its variants before looking more closely at genetic programming. After a discussion of methods and the state of the art, we review application areas of genetic programming and its strength in providing human-competitive solutions.

Sequence - Evolution - Function is an introduction to the computational approaches that play a critical role in the emerging new branch of biology known as functional genomics. The book provides the reader with an understanding of the principles and approaches of functional genomics and of the potential and limitations of computational and experimental approaches to genome analysis. Sequence - Evolution - Function should help bridge the "digital divide" between biologists and computer scientists, allowing biologists to better grasp the peculiarities of the emerging field of Genome Biology and to learn how to benefit from the enormous amount of sequence data available in the public databases. The book is non-technical with respect to the computer methods for genome analysis and discusses these methods from the user's viewpoint, without addressing mathematical and algorithmic details. Prior practical familiarity with the basic methods for sequence analysis is a major advantage, but a reader without such experience will be able to use the book as an introduction to these methods. This book is perfect for introductory level courses in computational methods for comparative and functional genomics.