CHARACTERISATION OF ENGINEERED PROTEINS: SOME CRITICAL REFLECTIONS

Abstract

This essay is an attempt to point up the gap between, on the one hand, the methods currently available to the biologist in the laboratory and, on the other, the kind of data that he or she would need in order to characterise genetically engineered proteins of topical biological interest in such a way as to make use of the techniques of protein engineering. Sgren Kirkegaard was Denmark's greatest philosopher, and he was well aware of the fact. One day he reflected: “To be Denmark's greatest philosopher, ah, that is indeed a fine satire.” By this he presumably meant that he was the only one. These words have encouraged us to philosophize a little about the protein engineering cycle, of which our version is shownin Figure 1. We have dissected the cycle according to two principles, information-theoretical (vertical axis) and epistemological (horizontal axis). The cycle starts from a gene and proceeds via expression to the corresponding protein, which we associate with a set of properties by testing or suitable characterisation. The understanding of these leads by way of theory, experience or intuition to a new gene, and thereafter the cycle continues, a process of which we have seen many impressive examples.