Antibody Engineering
One of the greatest opportunities synthetic biology brings is the engineering of monoclonal antibodies to boost their binding affinity and specificity for target receptors or ligands. Currently, there are numerous examples in the clinic where optimization of the Fab (Fragment of antigen binding) domains via antibody engineering enabled development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies with wide therapeutic windows. Fab domain sequences can be identified and modified to generate variant libraries and the resulting high-affinity sequences can be used for therapeutic antibody development. Antibody engineering also provides innovative solutions for the biopharmaceutical industry. Novel biopharmaceuticals, biosimilars, and biobetters can be designed, manufactured and optimized through antibody engineering in an efficient manner.
Q-dot Antibody Conjugations
Quantum Dot – antibody conjugates have wide in-vitro applications. Western blotting, protein array screening for variable purposes, immunohistochemistry and immunocytochemistry are common examples. If the antibody is provided or ordered by the customer, conjugation service is available. The Quantum Dots that are conjugated routinely in our facility are excited with UV/blue light (472 nm) and emit red light (625 nm).
For special purposes, Quantum Dots that emit in other wavelengths are also available for conjugation as specified by the customer. Conjugation takes 24 hours and is shipped to the customer the same day. Western blotting / Dot blot is available as a separate service upon request.
Enzyme Engineering
Enzymes produced with classical cloning methods can have expression levels that are low in both quantity and quality. Additionally, classical methods can be incapable of creating chimeric proteins. It is now possible to obtain high yield expression of native and chimeric proteins through the use of synthetic biology, which has a tremendous industrial value ranging from pharmaceutical industry to the use of enzymes in cleaning products and food industry.