Application of Molecular Evolution Techniques in the Field of Modern Biology

Molecular evolution is gaining momentum in the field of modern biology, especially in molecular biology and protein and enzyme engineering. Among the masses of techniques, error-prone PCR, DNA shuffling and saturation mutagenesis have stood out from the crowd and become three of the most commonly adapted research techniques in molecular evolution. The outcomes of molecular evolution have been widely applied to biological and medical industries, including the development of engineered enzymes, improving existing proteins or peptides properties, therapeutic protein modification, protein structural and functional studies, etc. However, these three techniques occupy distinct advantageous niches and concomitantly, they are constrained by their respective limitations. For the purpose of solving the limitations, a multi-technology combination is suggested and the the rapid proliferation of cross-disciplinary research and technological innovations, molecular evolution combined with computer science and bioinformatics have developed several groundbreaking research paradigms and technical solutions. Among these techniques, multiple sequence alignment is one of the technologies most closely associated with molecular evolution, especially with saturation mutagenesis. Current flourishing applications of molecular evolution and continuous technological refinements provide compelling evidence that molecular evolution research will remain a pivotal component in modern biological sciences.