A depiction of two sea monsters, Charybdis (the whirlpool) and Scylla (the creature) represents the difficult choice that must be made when two non-optimal outcomes are presented. As enzymes evolve and sail though sequence space, the narrow route between promiscuity and the non-functional intermediate must be traversed to obtain new substrate specificity. Some hypotheses on the process of enzyme evolution suggest that just like Odysseus, a closer brush with Scylla and loss of specificity (crew members) is preferable to losing everything by proximity to Charybdis.

This drawing was produced for me by Mitra Saboury while doing a summer internship at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center.