Rapid directed molecular evolution of fluorescent proteins in mammalian cells.

In vivo imaging of model organisms is heavily reliant on fluorescent proteins with high intracellular brightness. Here we describe a practical method for rapid optimization of fluorescent proteins via directed molecular evolution in cultured mammalian cells. Using this method, we were able to perform screening of large gene libraries containing up to 2 × 10 independent random genes of fluorescent proteins expressed in HEK cells, completing one iteration of directed evolution in a course of 8 days.