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Generating New Molecular Function: A Lesson from Nature
Author(s) -
Liu David R.,
Schultz Peter G.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-3773(19990115)38:1/2<36::aid-anie36>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - function (biology) , computational biology , nanotechnology , computer science , biochemical engineering , biology , evolutionary biology , engineering , materials science
Trying to model nature : Nature has evolved new molecular function by creating diverse collections of chemical structures and selecting for molecules with desired biological properties. An example of this is the recombination of germ‐line genes for the formation of antibodies with refined specificities (see scheme). Chemists, biologists, and physicists are now employing this combinatorial approach with great success to generate molecules with properties never before observed in nature or in the laboratory.