Enzyme engineering for biodegradation of chlorinated organic pollutants

'The generation of biological catalysts for the bioremediation of synthetic products will require in many cases powerful tools for modifying the catalytic and physical properties of natural enzymes. One approach to this problem involves the generation of selective catalysts by exploiting the large chemical diversity of the immune system to generate enzymelike catalytic antibodies. A second strategy involves the development of in vitro evolution methods to rapidly evolve protein catalysts with selected functions. The author is attempting to combine both approaches to generate catalysts for the bioremediation of halogenated aromatics. Specifically, he are developing general selections and screens for identifying novel catalysts from large libraries of antibody mutants. These methodologies are being initially applied to a well-characterized esterolytic antibody 43C9, but if successful, will provide a general approach for evolving a wide range of catalysts for the dehalogenation of halocarbons.