ADVERTISEMENT
Different colored cartoon viruses entering holes in a cartoon of a human brain.
A Journey Into the Brain
With the help of directed evolution, scientists inch closer to developing viral vectors that can cross the human blood-brain barrier to deliver gene therapy.
A Journey Into the Brain
A Journey Into the Brain

With the help of directed evolution, scientists inch closer to developing viral vectors that can cross the human blood-brain barrier to deliver gene therapy.

With the help of directed evolution, scientists inch closer to developing viral vectors that can cross the human blood-brain barrier to deliver gene therapy.

directed evolution

A close up of a tick held in a pair of forceps, with Kevin Esvelt’s face out of focus in the background.
CRISPR Gene Drives and the Future of Evolution
Hannah Thomasy, PhD | Mar 15, 2024 | 10+ min read
Genetic engineering pioneer Kevin Esvelt’s work highlights biotechnology’s immense potential for good—but also for catastrophe.
PCR tubes placed into the 96-well loading chamber of a PCR thermocycler instrument.
Directing Superior Reagents for Better PCR Results
The Scientist and MilliporeSigma | Oct 2, 2023 | 3 min read
Directed evolution approaches are creating new reagents to help a tried-and-true technique reach new heights.
Purple DNA helix surrounded by plexus lines
Enhancing Protein Engineering: Site Saturation Variant Libraries
Twist Bioscience | Feb 22, 2023 | 1 min read
Scientists compared protein engineering with a synthetic library versus error-prone PCR to achieve better variant representation and simpler validation.
Directed Evolution, Phage Display Nab Chemistry Nobel
Catherine Offord and Kerry Grens | Oct 3, 2018 | 4 min read
The 2018 award goes to Frances Arnold, Gregory Winter, and George Smith.
Engineered Bacteria Build Carbon-Silicon Bonds
Joshua A. Krisch | Nov 28, 2016 | 1 min read
Researchers tweak bacterial proteins, turning them into powerful enzymes capable of producing silicon-carbon compounds naturally and more efficiently than manmade catalysts.
Reverse Transcriptase with Proofreading Capabilities Created
Alison F. Takemura | Jun 27, 2016 | 2 min read
Using directed evolution, researchers selected a DNA polymerase to copy RNA into DNA.
Chemical Engineer Wins Millennium Technology Prize
Tanya Lewis | May 25, 2016 | 1 min read
Caltech’s Frances Arnold is honored for her work on directed evolution.
Genes Get in Your Eye
Ruth Williams | Jun 12, 2013 | 3 min read
Directed evolution of a gene therapy virus vector improves its penetration into the retina.
Flies Evolve to Count
Hayley Dunning | Jul 12, 2012 | 1 min read
Researchers breed fruit flies that, after 40 generations of conditioning, have acquired the ability to react to numbers.
The Immune System as a Tool for Directed Evolution
Aileen Constans | Jan 30, 2005 | 3 min read
A team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego, has harnessed the body's ability to tweak antibody genes to drive protein evolution in the lab.
ADVERTISEMENT