Bioretrosynthesis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bioretrosynthesis is a technique for synthesizing organic chemicals from inexpensive precursors and evolved enzymes.[1] The technique builds on the retro-evolution hypothesis proposed in 1945 by geneticist Norman Horowitz.[2]
The technique works backwards from the target to identify a precursor molecule and an enzyme that converts it into the target, and then a second precursor that can produce the first and so on until a simple, inexpensive molecule becomes the beginning of the series.[1] For each precursor, the enzyme is evolved using induced mutations and natural selection to produce a more productive version. The evolutionary process can be repeated over multiple generations until acceptable productivity is achieved.[1] The process does not require high temperature, high pressure, the use of exotic catalysts or other elements that can increase costs.[1] The enzyme "optimizations" that increase the production of one precursor from another are cumulative in that the same precursor productivity improvements can potentially be leveraged across multiple target molecules.[1]
