Dan Salah Tawfik (28 May 1955 – 4 May 2021) was an Israeli
biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
, best known for his contributions in
protein engineering
Protein engineering is the process of developing useful or valuable proteins. It is a young discipline, with much research taking place into the understanding of protein folding and recognition for protein design principles. It has been used to imp ...
,
evolutionary biochemistry and, more particularly,
enzyme evolution.
Biography
Tawfik was born in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
to a family of Jewish immigrants originally from
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. He received his BSc in chemistry and biochemistry (1988) and MSc in biotechnology (1990) from the
Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
in Jerusalem, and his PhD from the
Weizmann Institute of Science (1995).
He then moved to the United Kingdom where, after two years of postdoctoral research working under
Alan Fersht at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
(UK) and at the
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Centre for Protein Engineering, he became a senior research fellow at
Sidney Sussex College
Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...
and at the
Centre for Protein Engineering,
where he was appointed group leader in 1999. In 2001 he joined the Department of Biological Chemistry (now called the Department of Biomolecular Sciences) at the
Weizmann Institute of Science and held the Nella and Leon Benoziyo Professorial Chair of Biochemistry from 2010. Tawfik was Vice-Chair of the Scientific Council of the Weizmann Institute of Science from 2019 until the time of his death.
Tawfik died on 4 May 2021, in a rock climbing accident at Anića kuk in
Paklenica National Park, Croatia.
Research
Tawfik developed
in vitro compartmentalization ''In vitro'' compartmentalization (IVC) is an emulsion-based technology that generates cell-like compartments ''in vitro''. These compartments are designed such that each contains no more than one gene. When the gene is transcribed and/or translat ...
(jointly with Andrew D. Griffiths). This technology enables the compartmentalization of single DNA/RNA molecules in emulsion droplets, thus providing cell-like compartment, in which genes can be replicated, transcribed and translated. This technology allowed directed enzyme evolution to be performed without the involvement of living cells, and also became the basis of massive parallel sequencing methods such as
454 sequencing or
SOLID
Solid is one of the State of matter#Four fundamental states, four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and Plasma (physics), plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount o ...
, and of
digital polymerase chain reaction
Digital polymerase chain reaction (digital PCR, DigitalPCR, dPCR, or dePCR) is a biotechnological refinement of conventional polymerase chain reaction methods that can be used to directly quantify and clonally amplify nucleic acids strands includi ...
.
Tawfik was one of the earliest and most highly-cited contributors to the study of
enzyme promiscuity and its role in enzyme evolution. He established the link between the conformational diversity of proteins and their promiscuity, demonstrated the
evolvability of promiscuous protein functions (the ability of mutations to dramatically enhance a promiscuous activity with minor effects of the protein’s original function), and the role of promiscuity in the evolution of pesticide degrading enzymes. His group has also addressed the evolutionary trajectories that lead to new enzymes, and the link between protein folding, stability and evolvability.
His research on the emergence of the first enzymes worked toward establishing the roots of the most common enzyme lineages, the
Rossmann enzymes and
P-loop NTPases, in simple polypeptides,
suggested
ornithine as the first cationic amino acid,
and demonstrated the
evolvability of promiscuous protein functions (the ability of mutations to dramatically enhance a promiscuous activity with minor effects of the protein’s original function).
Awards and honours
* The Wolgin Prize for Scientific Excellence (2007)
* The Weizmann Prize from the Tel Aviv municipality (2007)
*
EMBO Membership (2009)
* Teva Award for Excellence in Memory of Eli Hurvitz (2013)
* The ECI Enzyme Engineering Award (2015)
* The
EMET Prize
The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture is an Israeli prize awarded annually for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far-reaching influence and make a significant contribution to society.
Prizes are awarded in the fol ...
in Life Sciences (2020)
* Gordon Hammes American Chemical Society (ACS) Lectureship (2021)
Weblinks
Website of Dan S. TawfikGoogle Scholar Profile
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tawfik, Dan Salah
1955 births
2021 deaths
Accidental deaths from falls
Israeli biochemists
Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
Sport deaths in Croatia