Why Choose Recombinant Enzymes?
Download: Technical Bulletin (pdf)
New England Biolabs, Inc.
Established in 1975 as a private cooperative of experienced scientists, New
England Biolabs is a world leader in the production of restriction endonucleases
and related products for recombinant DNA technology. NEB has consistently maintained
a position at the forefront of this field, and has successfully linked enzyme
production efficiency to basic research in the cloning and overexpression of
restriction/modification enzyme systems. This enables NEB to introduce substantial
cuts in reagent costs and unsurpassed improvements in product quality and purity.
Presently, NEB supplies more than 230 restriction enzymes, over 150 of which
are available in recombinant form, as well as numerous recombinant polymerases
and modifying enzymes for a wide variety of applications.
Why choose a recombinant enzyme?
Purity, Consistency, Affordability.
Purity
Once an enzyme system is cloned, choice of expression vector and strain background
allows tight control over the production environment. For restriction endonucleases,
this eliminates enzymes known to contaminate native preparations. For example,
when producing Avr II from the native strain Anabaena variabilis, great care
must be taken to eliminate Avr I. Similarly, when producing Hae III from
Haemophilus aegyptius, the enzyme must be purified free of Hae II. Choice
of background strain also plays a key role in eliminating nonspecific endonucleases
and exonucleases. Although recombinant enzymes and native enzymes are manufactured
to meet the same rigorous quality control standards, it is recombinant enzymes
that produce a more pure product with less processing time.
Consistency
Typically, the yields obtained for recombinant and overexpressed enzymes are
significantly larger than those produced by native strains. Production of
larger lots means greater product consistency and less lot-to-lot variation.
Further, this large lot capability is ideal for customers that have a need
for bulk quantities of enzymes. It simplifies their quality assurance procedures
by reducing the time and effort normally spent to qualify enzymes supplied
from different lots.
Affordability
At NEB, the introduction of recombinant enzymes has resulted in lower $/unit
charges. Recombinant enzymes with lower $/unit cost allows our customers
to experience substantial savings while benefiting from improved purity and
consistency of product.
Expertise
NEB focuses on the analysis of restriction/modification systems at the molecular
level. Our goal is to understand the regulation of these specialized systems
and how they interact with DNA. This expertise is available to our customers
as part of the NEB commitment to customer service.
Advances
Cloning does more than increase product quality and purity. There are many
examples where native strains do not produce sufficient levels of desirable
enzymes. For example, cloning of enzyme systems such as Avr II, Bcg I, BspH
I, Hga I, Kas I, NgoM I, has led to these being commercially available. Also,
recombinant enzymes are easier to manipulate at the genetic level often leading
to the commercialization of new enzymes with useful biochemical properties.
For example, the thermal stable enzyme Vent®R DNA Polymerase has a 3´ -
5´ exonuclease. Cloning of the Vent®R DNA Polymerase gene led to
the production of an exo¯ version of the enzyme that is now widely preferred
for DNA sequencing.