Biofuel from TB Bacteria
A team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are attempting to engineer biofuel-producing microbes from Rhodococcus bacteria — soil-dwelling microbes that eat a variety of toxic compounds. The aim of Professor Anthony Sinskey’s team is to make an organism that produces biofuel, which can use a variety of feed sources. … They have created a strain of the bacteria that can eat a mix of two types of glucose and xylose, and have also engineered strains that can feed on glycerol, a waste product of biodiesel production. The research is part of a bigger effort MIT has embarked on to develop biofuels using synthetic biology. READ MORE