Editing Protein engineering (section)

{{Short description|Bioengineering process}}
'''Protein engineering''' is the process of developing useful or valuable [[protein|proteins]] through the design and production of unnatural [[peptide|polypeptides]], often by altering [[amino acid]] sequences found in nature.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Protein engineering – Latest research and news {{!}} Nature |url=https://www.nature.com/subjects/protein-engineering |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=www.nature.com}}</ref> It is a young discipline, with much research taking place into the understanding of [[protein folding]] and recognition for [[protein design]] principles. It has been used to improve the function of many enzymes for industrial catalysis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Woodley |first=John M. |date=May 2022 |title=Integrating protein engineering into biocatalytic process scale-up |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2589597422000697 |journal=Trends in Chemistry |language=en |volume=4 |issue=5 |pages=371–373 |doi=10.1016/j.trechm.2022.02.007|s2cid=247489691 }}</ref> It is also a product and services market, with an estimated value of $168 billion by 2017.<ref>{{cite news |title=Speeding Up the Protein Assembly Line |url=https://www.genengnews.com/magazine/239/speeding-up-the-protein-assembly-line/5418/ |work=Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News |date=13 February 2015 }}</ref>

There are two general strategies for protein engineering: [[protein design|rational protein design]] and [[directed evolution]].  These methods are not mutually exclusive; researchers will often apply both.  In the future, more detailed knowledge of [[protein structure]] and [[Protein function|function]], and advances in [[high-throughput screening]], may greatly expand the abilities of protein engineering.  Eventually, even unnatural amino acids may be included, via newer methods, such as [[expanded genetic code]], that allow encoding novel amino acids in genetic code.
The applications in numerous fields, including medicine and industrial bioprocessing, are vast and numerous.