<p><strong>Protein engineering</strong> is the application of science, mathematics, and bioinformatics to the process of developing&nbsp;valuable proteins. It has been an old&nbsp;discipline, with much research taking place into the understanding of protein folding and protein recognition for protein design principles.</p>

<p>There are two general strategies for protein engineering. The first is known as <em>rational design</em>, in which the scientist uses detailed knowledge of the structure and function of the protein to make desired changes. This has the advantage of being generally inexpensive and easy, since site-directed mutagenesis techniques are well-developed. However, there is a major drawback in that detailed structural knowledge of a protein is often unavailable, and even when it is available, it can be extremely difficult to predict the effects of various mutations.</p>