New book on Protein Engineering

Prof. Dr. Manfred Reetz has written a Monograph

Prof. Manfred T. Reetz, former director at our institute, has written a book on protein engineering. This publication is unique.
 

Traditionally, enzymes did not belong to the toolbox of organic chemists, because these biocatalysts proved to be unreliable when chemists tried to transform non-natural compounds stereo- and/or regioselectively into targeted products. This decade-long attitude changed with the birth of the concept of directed evolution of stereoselective enzymes, which took place in the group of Prof. Reetz in the 1990s when he was the Director of the MPI für Kohlenforschung.

Following this landmark advance, Reetz focused on methodology development with the aim of maximizing the efficiency of mutagenesis methods and strategies, while other groups around the world joined efforts in expanding even further the validitiy of this Darwinian way to produce stereo- and/or regioselective enzymes, additionally motivated by the worldwide need to implement the construction of sustainable processes.

This book is unique, because it covers both semi-rational directed evolution and rational enzyme design with mainy tips, guidelines and analyses. It is ideal for researchers in academia and industry, and as a textbook in Master’s and doctoral courses at universities. Today, enzymes and mutants thereof are ecologically and economically viable alternatives to man-made synthetic catalysts.

The book that Reetz has written together with Z. Sun and G. Qu is entitled „Enzyme Engineering: Selective Catalysts for Applications in Biotechnology, Organic Chemistry and Life Science“. It was published with Wiley.