ABSTRACT
Enzymes catalyze a myriad of chemical transformations, often with great specificity, exquisite control, and remarkable rate enhancements, forming the basis for metabolism in all living organisms. Enzymes are being used as biocatalysts in manufacturing bulk chemicals, pharmaceutical and agrochemical intermediates, active pharmaceuticals, and food ingredients. Perhaps subtilisin, a bacterial serine protease, best illustrates the multiple goals of enzyme engineering. Subtilisin has been used for many years as a key component of many detergents, in addition to being used in many other applications in industry. The increasing use of biocatalysts in industry is dependent on developments that improve enzyme performance under process conditions. Enzyme thermostability is of major industrial importance, as the use of biocatalysts in industry is dependent, in many instances, on the enzyme’s ability to tolerate or function at elevated temperatures. The ability of enzymes to function in the presence of organic solvents would greatly broaden the scope of enzyme use to many industrial processes.
