Frances Arnold pioneered the process of directed evolution — mimicking natural selection to create new enzymes that have changed everything from agriculture to laundry.

SOURCES:
- Frances Arnold, professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology.

RESOURCES:
- "Innovation by Evolution: Bringing New Chemistry to Life," by Frances Arnold (Nobel Lecture, 2018).
- "Bacteria taught to bond carbon and silicon for the first time," by Aviva Rutkin (New Scientist, 2016).
- "Directed evolution of cytochrome c for carbon–silicon bond formation: Bringing silicon to life," by S. B. Jennifer Kan, Russell D. Lewis, Kai Chen, and Frances H. Arnold (Science, 2016).
- "The Director of Evolution," by Jennifer Ouellette (Slate, 2013).
- "Engineered ketol-acid reductoisomerase and alcohol dehydrogenase enable anaerobic 2-methylpropan-1-ol production at theoretical yield in Escherichia coli," by Sabine Bastian, Xiang Liu, Joseph T. Meyerowitz, Christopher D. Snow, Mike M. Y. Chen, and Frances H. Arnold (Metabolic Engineering, 2011).
- Gevo.
- Provivi.

EXTRAS:
- "How to Help Kids Succeed," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2025).
- The Levitt Lab.

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168. Chemistry, Evolved

People I (Mostly) Admire