The Nobel chemistry prize goes for work that harnesses evolution

HALF of this year’s Nobel prize in chemistry has been awarded to Frances Arnold, “for the directed evolution of enzymes”. The other half is shared by George Smith and Sir Gregory Winter, “for the phage display of peptides and antibodies”. But the real winner is evolution, for all three laureates harnessed its power to make proteins more useful for medicine and chemistry.Dr Arnold, who studied mechanical and aerospace engineering as an undergraduate, won her half for making synthetic enzymes (proteins that catalyse chemical reactions) by “directed evolution”. She started, as any engineer would, by attempting to re-design enzymes—making changes that, she reasoned, should improve their catalytic powers. This proved too difficult.