Frances H. Arnold pioneered the 'directed evolution' of proteins, mimicking Darwinian evolution in the laboratory to create new biological molecules. Her methods of laboratory evolution and structure-guided recombination are used widely in industry and basic science to engineer proteins with new and useful properties.

Arnold has received numerous honors, including induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2014), the ENI Prize in Renewable Energy (2013), the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2011), and the Draper Prize of the National Academy of Engineering (2011). She has been elected to membership in all three US National Academies, of Science, Medicine, and Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She chairs the Advisory Panel of the Packard Fellowships in Science and Engineering and serves as a judge for the Queen Elizabeth Prize in Engineering. Arnold holds more than 40 US patents and has served on the science advisory boards of numerous companies. She co-founded Gevo, Inc. in 2005 to make fuels and chemicals from renewable resources and Provivi in 2013 to develop new products for biological crop protection.