E.coli used to make ‘convenient’ biofuels

E.coli is more famous for causing food poisoning than for fuelling cars, but a team of researchers have discovered that the bacterium could be used to make “drop-in” biofuels (ones that can use the existing fuel infrastructure).

According to LS9 – a “renewable petroleum company” – a fuel a little like diesel can be generated by feeding glucose to genetically modified versions of the Escherichia coli bacteria. The microbes are not fussy eaters and can be grown simply on any sugar, including non-food sources such as grass, which don’t take up precious land otherwise used by food crops . They then naturally produce alkanes (hydrocarbons) through photosynthesis.

By identifying the genes which are responsible for the creation of hydrocarbons, scientists can then manipulate the bacteria to create a super-strain that could create fuel on an industrial level.

Read more at source

Related Posts

• No Related Post