Figure 1.

Process flow of De Novo protein design. Starting with a specific protein, the function of interest is isolated. A protein is modified from basic chemical principles so that it reproduces that function. In so doing, the designers can learn and rigorously test the underlying biophysical principles. The design and synthesis process itself begins with a simple scaffold. Mutations are made to impart function and the whole protein is recharacterized. If function is not achieved, or achieved to a sufficient level, the process restarts, however the modified protein is the new scaffold. In this iterative process complexity is kept to a minimum. An important aspect of de novo design is that proteins can be used in abiological contexts. This allows the expansion of natural functions into areas of synthetic chemistry making the de novo proteins a versatile tool capable of addressing many issues.