Patent 9023594 was granted and assigned to President and Fellows of Harvard College on May, 2015 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The present invention discloses generalizable methods of evolving nucleic acids and proteins utilizing continuous directed evolution. The invention discloses methods of passing a nucleic acid from cell to cell in a desired function-dependent manner. The linkage of the desired function and passage of the nucleic acid from cell to cell allows for continuous selection and mutation of the nucleic acid.