(Phys.org)—A team of researchers working at Princeton University has come up with a new way to modify proteins to catalyze reactions that are unknown in nature. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the team outlines their new technique and the ways in which it might be useful. Uwe Bornscheuer with Greifswald University in Germany offers a News & Views piece on the work done by the team and outlines the way in which the new method is likely to impact the use of enzyme classes in bio-catalysis.