Solution / Enzyme optimization
Know which enzyme variants to test next.
Crane Bioworks optimizes enzymes for activity, specificity, stability and process tolerance together. You bring the enzyme, the operating window and the assay you already run; each round returns ranked variants with the design rationale and a test plan your lab can run.
What we optimize
Thermostability
Variants that keep activity at higher temperature, for broader process windows.
Catalytic activity
Turnover, Km and product selectivity, using structure and active-site analysis.
Substrate specificity
Recognition tuned for new feedstocks or fewer side reactions.
Process tolerance
pH, temperature, cofactor dependence and expression titer, balanced against activity.
How a campaign runs
Step 1
Brief
The enzyme and its known variants, the operating window, one primary objective, and the assay your lab already runs.
Step 2
Design and cross-check
Sequence, evolutionary, structure-based and physics-based methods score the variants, and protein engineers review the trade-offs and where the methods disagree.
Step 3
Handoff
A ranked shortlist your lab can test in one round, the design rationale, predicted properties and limitations, and a next-round plan for when your assay data comes back.
The first engagement is a feasibility pilot: one target, fixed scope, fixed price, typically within 1–3 weeks. Designs, sequences and results remain your work product.
What we hear from teams
Maybe you don't need to test one million of enzyme. Maybe you test 20, 50, 100. But they are well selected.
It takes three months to make a directed evolution. That's too much, too long.
Evidence from our studies
- Finding Stabilizing Mutations in a Classic Lipase Benchmark
2026-03-19
- Seeing Stability at the Atomic Level
2026-03-26
- What Structure Adds When Sequence Scores Miss
2026-07-20
- Design the Chemistry Before the Scaffold
2026-08-17
Each study distinguishes computational evidence from wet-lab validation so you can judge the work on its actual footing.