EvoLunch Seminar: Julia Reisenbauer (Institute of Science and Technology Austria)

Enzymes are Nature’s catalysts, evolved to construct and break down chemical molecules with remarkable efficiency and selectivity. While their activities are shaped by natural selection, many enzymes exhibit promiscuous functions that provide starting points for synthetic applications. By leveraging fundamental concepts such as catalytic promiscuity and directed evolution, we repurpose and engineer these biocatalysts to perform non-native transformations, thereby expanding the accessible chemical space.