Kauffman S, Ellington A D
Santa Fe Institute, 1660 Old Pecos Trail, Suite A, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA.
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 1999 Jun;3(3):256-9. doi: 10.1016/S1367-5931(99)80040-4.
Biopolymers and chemical compounds with novel functions can be selected or screened from randomized libraries. Recently, it has become possible to augment the functions of biopolymers via the conjugation or incorporation of unnatural chemical moieties. In the future, it should prove possible to engineer systems that can self-evolve and thereby reveal unexpected emergent properties.