by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) If you were reading BBC’s coverage of the aviation biofuels space yesterday, you would have seen the provocative headline: Wood fuel plan to cut plane CO2 branded as ‘pipe dream’ Then would have looked in vain for
genetically engineered yeast cells
Back TO HOMEDOE Joint Genome Institute Aims to Boost Use of More Yeasts
by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In California, so far industry has only harnessed a fraction of the diversity available for biotechnological applications, including biofuel production. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team led by DOE Joint
August 17, 2016 Read Full Article
US Researchers Get Go Ahead to Genetically Engineer Bacteria to Boost Bioethanol Production
(Biofuels International) lllinois Institute of Technology researchers have received a patent for a method to genetically engineer bacteria and yeast to increase bioethanol production, especially from cellulosic material in biomass like twigs, branches, plant stalks and husks, and woodchips. According to
August 04, 2016 Read Full Article
Cellulosic Ethanol, What Happened, What’s Happening?
by Irshad Ahmed (Lee Enterprises) ... I believe cellulosic ethanol is here to stay for the long haul and it is finally exhibiting real potential to establish a critical-mass commercial base alongside the corn-ethanol industry. Its commercial success will come from the
August 02, 2016 Read Full Article
Illinois Tech Scientists Receive Patent for Method to Genetically Engineer Bacteria and Yeast to Increase Bioethanol Production
(IIT Today) Scientists from Illinois Institute of Technology received a patent for a method to genetically engineer bacteria and yeast to increase bioethanol production, especially from cellulosic material in biomass like twigs, branches, plant stalks and husks, and woodchips. Ben Stark,
July 27, 2016 Read Full Article
Singapore Scientists Mine Butanol from Fats in Food Waste
(The China Post) Scientists in Singapore have found a green, efficient way to deal with the growing amount of food waste that the country produces. They have genetically modified a type of yeast so that it can convert fats in food
July 15, 2016 Read Full Article
DuPont Introduces New Yield-Increasing Fermentation System for Ethanol Production
(Biofuels International) DuPont Industrial Biosciences has launched a new fermentation system to help ethanol producers improve their yields and decrease sugar levels in their product. The DuPont Synerxia system, introduced at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, increases yields by up
July 03, 2016 Read Full Article
Verdezyne, CB&I, Albemarle, Dow AgroSciences, Newlight Technologies Land 2016 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the EPA announced that Verdezyne, CB&I, Albemarle, Dow AgroSciences, Newlight Technologies and Princeton Professor Paul Chirik are winners of the 2016 Presidential Green Chemistry Awards. Though less well-known than the Presidential Challenge on Fitness,
June 24, 2016 Read Full Article
Advancing the Brewing Process With New Yeasts, Enzymes
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) For millennia, the recipe for brewing remained basically the same: add water and yeast to the ground grain and wait. The big innovation of the past century was the addition of enzymes to
June 13, 2016 Read Full Article
New Method for Bio-Designing Yeast Could Improve Biofuel Production
by Krista Eastman (Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center) An assistant research specialist at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) has designed a new strain of yeast that could improve the efficiency of making fuel from cellulosic biomass such as switchgrass. Both the yeast
February 16, 2016 Read Full Article
CRISPR-Cas9 Tool Expedites Production of Biofuel Precursors and Specialty Polymers in Living Systems
by Sarah Nightingale (Phys.Org) A team led by a researcher at the University of California, Riverside has adapted the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system for use in a yeast strain that can produce useful lipids and polymers. The development will lead to
January 27, 2016 Read Full Article
Purdue Engineer Receives Top Award from Obama
(Purdue University) Nancy Ho, founder and president of Green Tech America Inc. and a research professor emerita in Purdue University's School of Chemical Engineering, will receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama. The award, announced Dec. 22,
January 04, 2016 Read Full Article
New Way to Make Yeast Hybrids May Inspire New Brews, Biofuels
by Terry Devitt (University of Wisconsin-Madison News) The makers of beer, wine, biofuels and other products that depend on yeasts may soon have many more strains of the microorganism to work with, thanks to a new method for making interspecies
December 07, 2015 Read Full Article
Seeking Better Biofuels
by Melody M. Bomgardner (Chemical & Engineering News) Researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute transform biomass into energy-rich fuel molecules -- .. JBEI researchers are zeroing in on concepts that others have decided are too difficult or would take too
October 26, 2015 Read Full Article
The Isooctene Revolution, Redux: The Digest’s Updated 2015 8-Slide Guide to Gevo
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Gevo has two proprietary technologies that combine to make it possible to retrofit existing ethanol plants to produce isobutanol, a four carbon alcohol which serves as a hydrocarbon platform molecule. They have developed an industrial
October 02, 2015 Read Full Article
The Building Block Builders: The Digest’s 2015 8-Slide Guide to BioAmber
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) From the company’s IPO Prospectus: “Our proprietary technology platform combines industrial biotechnology, an innovative purification process and chemical catalysis to convert renewable feedstocks into chemicals that are cost-competitive replacements for petroleum-derived chemicals. The development of our
September 23, 2015 Read Full Article
Yeast Cell Factories on the Horizon
by Jens Nielsen (Science Magazine) For thousands of years, yeast has been used for making beer, bread, and wine. In modern times, it has become a commercial workhorse for producing fuels, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals such as insulin, human serum albumin,
September 08, 2015 Read Full Article
Taurus Energy Signs Key Brazilian Material Transfer aAgreement; Wins US Patent for More Ethanol, Xylose; Less Xylitol
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Sweden, Taurus Energy has signed a material transfer agreement with a leading research and technology center for sugar cane and ethanol producers in Brazil. Work will be performed in both parties’ respective laboratories to
September 08, 2015 Read Full Article
Amyris and the Velocity of Renewables
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What makes Amyris, Amyris? We look at the products, the evolution of the story, the partners, the focus on yield, and deeper into the story of Rate. ... Amyris experienced last month what CEO John Melo
August 28, 2015 Read Full Article
Boosting Biofuel Production: New MIT Research Finds Supplements Help Yeast Survive.
by Nancy Stauffer (MIT Energy Initiative) Chemical engineers and biologists at MIT have found a simple way to make yeast produce more ethanol from sugars: Spike the mixture they’re growing on with two common chemicals. Adding potassium and an acidity-reducing compound helps
July 14, 2015 Read Full Article
Taurus Energy Poised to Bring 2nd Generation Yeast to U.S. Market
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A company based in Lund, Sweden, recently received a welcome notification from the U.S. EPA, indicating the company’s 90-day Microbial Commercial Activity Notice review has been completed without objections. This puts Taurus Energy AB
June 22, 2015 Read Full Article
Engineers Develop New Yeast Strain to Enhance Biofuel and Biochemical Production
(University of Texas at Austin) Researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have used a combination of metabolic engineering and directed evolution to develop a new, mutant yeast strain that could lead to
April 13, 2015 Read Full Article
An Evolutionary Metabolic Engineering Approach for Enhancing Lipogenesis in Yarrowia lipolytica
by Leqian Liu, Anny Pan, Caitlin Spofford, Nijia Zhou, Hal S. Alper (Metabolic Engineering) Lipogenic organisms provide an ideal platform for biodiesel and oleochemical production. Through our previous rational metabolic engineering efforts, lipogenesis titers in Yarrowia lipolytica were significantly enhanced. However,
March 27, 2015 Read Full Article
Metabolic Path to Improved Biofuel Production
(EurekAlert!/US Department of Energy Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Researchers with the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a partnership that includes the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, have found a way to increase the
March 05, 2015 Read Full Article
Byogy Renewables and GEN 2 Energy Advance Value Chain to Produce Biofuels Competitive With Today's Oil Price
(Byogy/PR Newswire) Byogy Renewables, a biofuels producer based in San Jose, California, has executed a strategic partnership agreement with Gen 2 Energy, an alternative energy company from Ames, Iowa, to develop a more cost-effective biofuel production process. New yeast strains developed by
February 26, 2015 Read Full Article
UGA Researchers Develop Super Yeast that Turns Pine into Ethanol
(University of Georgia/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed a "super strain" of yeast that can efficiently ferment ethanol from pretreated pine, one of the most common species of trees in Georgia and the U.S. Their
February 16, 2015 Read Full Article
Engineered Yeast Turn Three Carbon Compounds Into Ethanol
by Jyoti Madhusoodanan (Chemical & Engineering News) Biofuels: Yeast designed to ferment compounds found in treated biomass could boost biofuel production When biofuel producers turn agricultural waste into ethanol, they start by treating the biomass with acid to hydrolyze complex carbohydrates
February 11, 2015 Read Full Article
4 Minutes with…Gert Caspritz, CEO, Rho Renewables
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Rho’s R&D efforts are directed towards the generation of genetically modified yeast capable of making various high value aromatic specialty chemicals, the high energy/high octane biofuel Rhoctane(TM), styrene and selected flavors and fragrances. Rho has
December 31, 2014 Read Full Article
Transforming Toxic Waste into Green Energy
by Christian Durand (Concordia University) Emerging graduate research at Concordia seeks to turn pulp mills into dynamic biorefineries How can a struggling industry like pulp and paper in Canada be revived? According to Damien Biot-Pelletier, a Concordia PhD candidate in biology, the
November 03, 2014 Read Full Article
The GMO Debate: 5 Things to Stop Arguing
by Tamar Haspel (The Washington Post) ... I’m guessing you’d agree that the public debate about GMOs isn’t playing out in a constructive way. Both sides have dug trenches, and they’re lobbing grenades over the wall while nothing much changes. It’s
October 31, 2014 Read Full Article
EPA Honors the Winners of the 19th Annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards/ Winning Technologies Tackle Climate Change and Promote Energy Efficiency
(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is recognizing landmark green chemistry technologies developed by industrial pioneers and leading scientists that turn climate risk into business opportunities, spurring innovation and economic development. “From academia to business, we congratulate
October 16, 2014 Read Full Article
4 Minutes with…Ray W. Miller, Chief Business Officer, Verdezyne
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Our technology is based on a proprietary yeast that is selectively engineered to use a variety of plant oil by-products, such as fatty acids, to produce dodecanedioic acid (DDDA), adipic acid and sebacic acid. ... Most important
October 16, 2014 Read Full Article
Thermotolerant Yeast Can Provide More Climate-Smart Ethanol
(Science 20) The yeast has not been gene modified by the researchers; rather, they have used adaptive laboratory evolution to produce it. The method allows new characteristics to be produced without knowing which mutations are required to achieve them. Three yeast
October 15, 2014 Read Full Article
Obama, Malaysia, Verdezyne, and Business as Unusual in the Bioeconomy
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) How a small, development-stage industrial biotech company, making chemicals you never heard of, landed $48M in new investment and a $100M valuation from investors like BP. And how they got so hot that figures like President
April 29, 2014 Read Full Article
First Functional 'Designer' Chromosome in Yeast Is Synthesized
(NYU Langone Medical Center/Biomass Magazine) An international team of scientists led by Jef Boeke, director of NYU Langone Medical Center’s Institute for Systems Genetics, has synthesized the first functional chromosome in yeast, an important step in the emerging field of synthetic biology,
April 04, 2014 Read Full Article
X-Crobes: Kuraray Invests in Amyris, What’s Next for Synth-Bio and Performance Molecules?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... In California, Amyris and Kuraray announced the expansion and extension of their ongoing collaboration in high performance polymers using Biofene, Amyris’s brand of renewable farnesene. Amyris and Kuraray launched the collaboration in 2011 with an initial