Hey Kids! Grab Your Scissors and Glue! Fun, Transformative Things to Do with Bacteria!
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Of all the microbes we know – and, basically, the human body is a boutique hotel for hosting them, with researchers now estimating that for every human cell in a body, there are at least 10 microbial ones – bacteria are proving to be incredibly robust for biofuels development, particularly e.coli, where the toolkits for synthetic biology are well established.
E.coli — eew! …But the very principle that makes that one strain dangerous to people makes the point about e.coli’s efficacy – basically, it can be programmed to ferment a lot of useful things as a byproduct, too, after eating biomass. …
Fermenting ethanol from seaweed …
Using extremophile bacteria that can tolerate high-temperature reactions …
4000X increase in diesel molecule production rate …
Bacterial breakthrough of the month, April: Isobutanol from bacteria, CO2 and solar electricity …
Diesel from bacteria, CO2 and renewable electricity …
Cow rumen bacteria that make cellulosic ethanol … READ MORE
