The developing toolkit of continuous directed evolution.

Nat Chem Biol
Authors
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.

Year of Publication
2020
Journal
Nat Chem Biol
Volume
16
Issue
6
Pages
610-619
Date Published
2020 Jun
ISSN
1552-4469
DOI
10.1038/s41589-020-0532-y
PubMed ID
32444838
Links
Grant list
U01 AI142756 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
RM1 HG009490 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States
R01 EB022376 / EB / NIBIB NIH HHS / United States
R35 GM118062 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
Liu investigatorship / Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)