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Expanding chemistry through in vitro and in vivo biocatalysis

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Abstract

Living systems contain a vast network of metabolic reactions, providing a wealth of enzymes and cells as potential biocatalysts for chemical processes. The properties of protein and cell biocatalysts—high selectivity, the ability to control reaction sequence and operation in environmentally benign conditions—offer approaches to produce molecules at high efficiency while lowering the cost and environmental impact of industrial chemistry. Furthermore, biocatalysis offers the opportunity to generate chemical structures and functions that may be inaccessible to chemical synthesis. Here we consider developments in enzymes, biosynthetic pathways and cellular engineering that enable their use in catalysis for new chemistry and beyond.

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Fig. 1: Enzymatic transformations for synthetic chemistry.
Fig. 2: The use of biocatalysis for synthetic applications.
Fig. 3: Expanding the diversity of chemical space.
Fig. 4: Multi-step catalysis in vitro and in vivo.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the National Institutes of Health (R01 GM134271) and the National Science Foundation (CLP 2204014) for their generous support.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Elijah N. Kissman, Max B. Sosa, Douglas C. Millar

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Elijah N. Kissman, Max B. Sosa, Edward J. Koleski & Michelle C. Y. Chang

  2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Douglas C. Millar & Michelle C. Y. Chang

  3. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Kershanthen Thevasundaram & Michelle C. Y. Chang

  4. Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Michelle C. Y. Chang

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Kissman, E.N., Sosa, M.B., Millar, D.C. et al. Expanding chemistry through in vitro and in vivo biocatalysis. Nature 631, 37–48 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07506-w

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