NOVEL TECHNIQUES: Phage Display Helps Select Enzymes.

An advanced form of phage display technology from Dyax Corp. (Bldg. 600, 5th Fl., One Kendall Sq., Cambridge, MA 02139; Tel: 617/225-2500, Fax: 617/225-2501) allows engineering and producing highly selective industrial enzymes with improved catalytic ability and substrate specificity that can be used to synthesize valuable chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Unlike slow and nonspecific methods for enzyme selection and development, the advanced technology from Dyax rapidly generates large enzyme libraries containing most of the mutations likely to influence an enzyme's catalytic activity. The phage display technology expedites the process of selecting enzymes with optimal …