• Directed evolution

    Exploring the protein fitness landscape and elucidating principles of biological design

  • Synthetic biology

    Engineering biological systems

  • Microbial factories

    Engineering micro-organisms to produce desirable fuels and chemicals

  • Biocatalysis

    Expanding the toolbox of biochemical reactions

  • Protein engineering

    Using evolutionary protein design methods

Welcome

Research in the Arnold group focuses on evolutionary protein design methods (1,2) and using the results of laboratory evolution experiments to elucidate principles of biological design.

We generate novel and useful enzymes and organisms for applications in medicine, neurobiology, chemical synthesis and alternative energy. We also construct entire synthetic families of enzymes and other proteins in order to study structure-function relationships free from constraints of natural selection.

This research requires contributions from many disciplines, including chemistry, bioengineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, chemical engineering, chemistry and applied physics.