"They let evolution do the hard work for them, waiting until one of the many, many mutations hits the jackpot."
Half of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to Frances H. Arnold who pioneered the technique on "directed evolution of enzymes". The other half was jointly awarded to George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter "for the phage display of peptides and antibodies."
The technique was an innovative approach that mimics natural selection where chemists randomly mutate enzymes, select the more efficient or effective ones for further mutation and testing, and repeating the process to develop perfectly adapted biocatalysts for targeted reactions.
RSC Education In Chemistry article presents the science behind this in an accessible way for high school students. There are opportunities to connect and build on students' understanding of enzymes, and extend them beyond the curriculum. It also illustrates the creativity and ingenuity of scientists in drawing insights from different fields of Science in their pursuit of elegant solutions to existing challenges.
For more details and resources, please visit:
https://eic.rsc.org/feature/the-nature-hackers/3009799.article
Other references:
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2018/press-release/
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