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directed EVOlution in DROPS

Project description

DEENESFRITPL

Directed protein evolution in the blink of an eye

Natural evolution took billions of years to generate the macromolecules we know today through cycles of mutation and selection. Mimicking this process in the lab has the potential to produce novel proteins or enzymes of interest for industrial and medical applications. To achieve this, the EU-funded EVOdrops project proposes to introduce a rapid method of genetic diversity generation alongside a microfluidics-based approach for screening and selecting enzyme variants of interest. The project brings together experts in the field of protein engineering and microfluidics who will train young researchers in biotechnology and biomedical applications.

Objective

Natural evolution is a powerful process that has given rise to the functionally diverse set of proteins present in all living systems. Repetitive rounds of mutation, selection and amplification have optimised nature’s catalysts, the enzymes, to perform an enormous range of different reactions. However, natural evolution has driven the optimisation of enzymes subjected to living functions of microorganisms, according to ill-defined and fluctuating external conditions and is not suitable
for industrial processes since it lacks of control of selection pressure. In EVOdrops, we will use directed evolution to overcome these limitations. It is a synthetic, man-made approach of evolution, aiming at improving living systems based on predefined needs, controlling the external selection pressure. While natural evolution took billions of years to optimise
macromolecules, directed evolution – to be efficient in an industrial process – requires both the generation of genetic diversity and ultra-high throughput screening capabilities to recover the variants of interest. We will develop and optimise these tools using the ground-breaking potential of droplet-based microfluidics for high-throughput experimentation and the
fine control of gene library construction. EVOdrops, a European training network, will bring together the leading research scientists, laboratories and industries in Europe with outstanding expertise in protein engineering and microfluidics and 13 early stage researchers. We will offer an extensive multi- and interdisciplinary training to ensure that they can solve these urgent and unmet challenges in biotechnology and biomedicine. We will use a multidisciplinary approach combining soft matter, microfluidics and chemical biology to design solutions for the selection of new enzymes of industrial and therapeutic interest. In the future, our approaches can be generalised to challenges involving high-throughput miniaturised biochemical or cell-based assays.

Fields of science

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018

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Funding Scheme

MSCA-ITN - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN)

Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
Net EU contribution
€ 606 345,12
Address
UNIVERSITY AVENUE
G12 8QQ Glasgow
United Kingdom

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Region
Scotland West Central Scotland Glasgow City
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost
€ 606 345,12

Participants (10)

Partners (8)

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Last update: 11 December 2023

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/813786

European Union, 2024