Here’s a pro-ID article without the usual disclaimers (e.g., a ritualistic suck-up to Darwin, an obligatory sneer at ID). Perhaps this is a sign of things to come.
Protein engineering: opportunities and challenges
Matti Leisola1 and Ossi Turunen1Journal Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
SpringerLink Date Tuesday, April 03, 2007
SOURCE: http://www.springerlink.com/content/d514772515583767/Received: 28 February 2007 Revised: 20 March 2007 Accepted: 21 March 2007 Published online: 3 April 2007
Abstract: The extraordinary properties of natural proteins demonstrate that life-like protein engineering is both achievable and valuable. Rapid progress and impressive results have been made towards this goal using rational design and random techniques or a combination of both. However, we still do not have a general theory on how to specify a structure that is suited to a target function nor can we specify a sequence that folds to a target structure. There is also overreliance on the Darwinian blind search to obtain practical results. In the long run, random methods cannot replace insight in constructing life-like proteins. For the near future, however, in enzyme development, we need to rely on a combination of both.
Keywords: Protein engineering – Directed evolution – Enzymes
(1) Laboratory of Bioprocess Engineering, Helsinki University of Technology, P.O. Box 6100, 02015 HUT Espoo, Finland