Protein engineering technologies, such as directed evolution and DNA recombination, are often used to modify enzymes on a genetic level for the creation of useful industrial catalysts. Pre-treatment of paper pulps with xylanases have been shown to decrease the amounts of toxic chlorine dioxide used to bleach pulp. This study was undertaken to improve the thermal and alkaline stabilities of the xylanase from the fungus Thermomyces lanuginosus using ep-PCR and DNA shuffling.
