Sarel Fleishman is a professor and head of the Protein Design Lab (https://lnkd.in/d2Su-kEK) at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The lab specializes in developing one-shot methods for designing #enzymes and #biologics. Some of the methods developed by the lab, such as PROSS and FuncLib, have become state-of-the-art in computational optimization of protein stability, expression levels, and activity. These and other tools are accessible to all scientists through web servers (https://lnkd.in/dsbe2zHY) and have resulted in more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and patent filings. These methods have served as the basis for founding two #biotechnology startups: Scala Biodesign specializes in optimizing biologics and enzymes, and Plantae Bioscience optimizes the health and nutritional value of crops.
The W-BioCat project will put the reliability of the lab’s design methods to a stringent test. Instead of designing just one enzyme at a time, this project calls for co-optimization of an entire enzymatic pathway. The lab will combine new methods in #AI-based structure prediction of enzymes with its proven methods for improving heterologous expression levels and specific activity. It will collaborate with other teams in the consortium to select the most promising enzyme targets for design, test the predictions, and improve the designs.
The ability to design optimal enzymatic pathways will be a landmark for promoting #sustainable #biocatalytic solutions to complex chemical synthesis challenges. We are eager to contribute to this effort!
