Engineering Life: Exploring Novel Applications of Directed Evolution

We will explore the work of Andrew Ellington, a biochemist focused on synthetic evolution of biomolecules and organisms. Specifically, we will describe the techniques used in directed evolution, including molecular screening and selection. While Ellington began his career with evolving RNA to create aptamers, he has since moved on to evolving biomolecules of increased complexity. We will discuss the challenges associated with evolving proteins and organisms and present several examples of how Ellington\u27s lab has developed techniques to address these challenges. Ultimately, the techniques developed by the Ellington lab not only reveal novel approaches to improving the overall quality of biomolecules, but also provide a stepping stone into promising future studies on innovative evolutionary biochemical synthesis