European Network on Directed Evolution of Functional Proteins

Objective

This project intends to use directed evolution as tool to reproduce Nature's remarkable ability to generate molecular machines - in particular enzymes – that perform at levels near perfection. By harnessing the forces of Darwinian evolution in the laboratory we want to (i) screen large and diverse genome libraries for protein with new and useful functions, (ii) optimize existing proteins for applications in medicine, biotechnology and cell biology and (iii) provide a better understanding of how existing enzymes evolved and study enzyme mechanisms in general. The proposed Network brings together leading academic and industrial groups with diverse and complementary skills: the development of a variety of innovative biotechnology tools for the generation and exploitation of large genomic and man-made libraries, expertise in mechanistic enzymology and an unrivalled technology platform including phage display, in vitro compartmentalization, ribosome display, selective protein labelling and high-throughput screening that will be key to achieve the ambitious goals of this project. The project is a continuation of a highly successful framework 5 network. The partnership has now been extended by two successful SMEs at different stages of their development and one of Europe’s premier medium-sized biotech companies that are keen to utilise and market the expected results of this collaborative effort.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

• natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
• natural sciences biological sciences cell biology
• natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
• natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

• Biological sciences
• Directed evolution
• Enzimology
• Molecular evolution
• Soil biology
• phage display
• protein function
• ribosome display
• structure-activity relationships

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

• PEOPLE-2007-1-1-ITN - Marie Curie Action: " Networks for Initial Training"

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2007-1-1-ITN
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-ITN - Networks for Initial Training (ITN)

Coordinator

Participants (9)