On January 30, a team led by Professor Wu Xiaoling and Professor Lou Wenyong from the School of Food Science and Engineering at South China University of Technology (SCUT) published an online paper entitled “Computational Rational Design of Unspecific Peroxygenase for C-H Oxidation” in Science Advances. The team proposed a new strategy for computer-aided design of enzyme catalysts, which significantly reduced experimental workload, rapidly generated high-performance enzyme mutants and provided in-depth insights into the underlying mechanism.

This breakthrough overcomes a critical bottleneck of catalytic activity and selectivity in UPOs, establishing an efficient enzyme engineering workflow and providing important references for the directed evolution of enzymes. The obtained enzyme mutants can be applied in food, pharmaceutical, biocatalysis and other fields, supporting the green and high-quality development of related industries.