Presidential Young Investigators Award

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The main goal of this research award is the design and construction of proteins that exhibit new and technologically interesting properties. This is to include the building of specific metal-binding sites into protein surfaces, using both site-directed mutagenesis and chemical modifications. Such proteins can provide a simple and inexpensive means of purifying recombinant proteins that is also highly selective. Other more complex alterations can be used to build specific metal-binding agents for toxic waste treatment or metal detection. Another project involves the identification of criteria for designing enzymes that will be stable in nonaqueous solvents. This will be based on detailed nuclear magnetic resonance structural studies of a natural protein that is stable in a variety of polar organic solvents.