What is protein expression and purification?

Protein expression and purification is a crucial process in biotechnology and biochemistry. It involves producing a specific protein in a host organism (e.g., bacteria, yeast, insect cells, or mammalian cells) and then isolating and purifying it from the host's cellular components. This purified protein can then be used for various downstream applications, including structural studies, drug discovery, enzyme assays, and therapeutic development. The process typically involves cloning the gene encoding the target protein into an expression vector, introducing the vector into the host cell, inducing protein production, lysing the cells, and then using various chromatography techniques (e.g., affinity chromatography, ion exchange chromatography, size exclusion chromatography) to isolate the protein of interest from other cellular components.