One point scores twice

Nautilus Biotech S.A. says that single point mutations it introduced into interferon alpha and human growth hormone not only have conferred better potency and duration of action, but also have unexpectedly made the proteins orally available. The company presented data at last week's Protein Engineering Summit in Boston showing that both molecules are orally bioavailable in rats.

To generate the point mutations, Nautilus (Paris, France) uses an undisclosed directed evolution technique, which the company describes as being between random mutagenesis and predictive algorithms. Originally, Nautilus used the technique to improve the potency and duration of action of therapeutic proteins (see BioCentury, April 5, 2004). ...