Protein engineering is a fascinating mixture of molecular biology, protein structure analysis, computation, and biochemistry, with the goal of developing useful or valuable proteins.

Protein Engineering Protocols will consider the two general, but not mutually exclusive, strategies for protein engineering. The first is known as rational design, in which the scientist uses detailed knowledge of the structure and function of the protein to make desired changes.

The second strategy is known as directed evolution. In this case, random mutagenesis is applied to a protein, and selection or screening is used to pick out variants that have the desired qualities. By several rounds of mutation and selection, this method mimics natural evolution.

An additional technique known as DNA shuffling mixes and matches pieces of successful variants to produce better results. This process mimics recombination that occurs naturally during sexual reproduction.

The first section of Protein Engineering Protocols describes rational protein design strategies, including computational methods, the use of non-natural amino acids to expand the biological alphabet, as well as impressive examples for the generation of proteins with novel characteristics.

Although procedures for the introduction of mutations have become routine, predicting and understanding the effects of these mutations can be very challenging and requires profound knowledge of the system as well as protein structures in general.