A team of scientists have recently genetically modified a certain microbe that has the ability to produce advanced biofuel directly from biomass. A team of researchers forming the Joint BioEnergy Institute or JBEI of the US Department of Energy have engineered a strain of Escherichia coli or E. coli bacteria to produce biodiesel fuel.

The research team, which was led by Jay Keasling, CEO for JBEI, was in collaboration with research people from LS9, a private industrial biotechnology company based in South San Francisco. They developed a type of modified E. coli that can produce fatty esters and alcohol from simple sugars.

E. coli is a microbe with some strains known to cause food poisoning. On the other hand, it is also a microbe known in scientific circles as quite amenable to genetic manipulation. Aside from that, it is also known as a micro-organism with a natural ability to synthesize fatty acids. This makes it an ideal target for biofuels research.

The research aimed to modify the E. coli bacteria so that it is able to eat into biological waste and then secrete fatty esters that can be processed into biodiesel. Current sources of biodiesel such as corn and sugar require a more expensive process to manufacture biodiesel. Not only that, their use for fuel production have  resulted to an increase in food prices due to their conversion into biofuels instead of being grown as food.

With using the modified E. coli, biofuel manufacturers may have a less costly but more effective alternative since the microbe can be used to eat into the simple sugars found in biomass waste, wood chips and other similar waste products instead of using staple crops. 

In addition, the engineered E. coli     also enabled the production of biodiesel directly which means less processing costs. With biodiesel consumption expected to rise the two billion gallons used worldwide last year, this would certainly provide a promising technology that would help produce the world's need for better alternative fuels. This concept of biofuel production still may require further study in terms of environmental impact and processing costs.

Source:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gpFkPd3eyMtxTw1y4PBMubMOc09Q