KAPA technology
Wild-type enzymes are transformed into engineered enzymes through a process of high-throughput molecular evolution
The complex cumulative effects of small changes to protein structure significantly limit the rational design of enzyme function. A preferred strategy for protein engineering involves simulating evolution in the laboratory. Large libraries of protein variants are screened through a specific functional selection pressure, only the enzymes with improved function survive for the next round of selection.
Kapa Biosystems is deploying a suite of high-throughput directed evolution technologies for the discovery and optimization of novel protein products. Wild-type enzymes become engineered enzymes as a result of this technology platform.
Kapa Biosystems is the only reagents supplier offering a range of novel polymerases that have been evolved specifically for applications such as real-time PCR, high fidelity PCR, fast PCR, robust PCR, crude sample PCR, long range PCR, next-generation DNA sequencing and molecular diagnostics.
The key drivers of this technology involve:
- The generation of extreme genetic diversity within the protein as a substrate for screening
- The development of assays that select for the desired protein structure or function
Recent innovations in mutagenesis library construction, in vitro genotype-phenotype linkage, and massively parallel selection assays capable of screening 107 - 108 of proteins have finally unlocked the potential of molecular evolution.
