Sugar-loving microbes could help power future cars, study shows
Sugar-loving microbes could help power future cars, study shows
Sugar-loving microbes could help power future cars by turning glucose into molecules found in gasoline, a new study suggests.
Researchers report using biology and chemistry to turn glucose into olefins – a type of hydrocarbon, and one of several types of molecules that make up gasoline.
Olefins make up a small percentage of the molecules in gasoline as it is currently produced.
But the scientists say it is possible the process could be adjusted in the future to generate other types of hydrocarbons as well, including some of the other components of gasoline.
Making biofuels from renewable resources like glucose has great potential to advance green energy technology
The researchers also note that olefins have non-fuel applications, as they are used in industrial lubricants and as precursors for making plastics.
The study involved feeding glucose to strains of E.coli that do not pose a danger to human health.
Zhen Wang, a biochemist, at the University at Buffalo, led the study with Michelle Chang, at the University of California Berkeley.
Provided by Evening Standard Sugar-loving microbes could help produce fuel for cars in the future, research has shown (Douglas Levere/University at Buffalo)
Prof Wang said: “These microbes are sugar junkies, even worse than our kids.”
She added: “We combined what biology can do the best with what chemistry can do the best, and we put them together to create this two-step process.
“Using this method, we were able to make olefins directly from glucose.”
The experiments used genetically engineered E.coli to produce a suite of four enzymes that convert glucose into compounds called 3-hydroxy fatty acids.
As the bacteria consumed the glucose, they also started to make the fatty acids.
To complete the transformation, the researchers used a catalyst to cut off unwanted parts of the fatty acids in a chemical process, generating the olefins.
The enzymes and catalyst were identified through trial and error, with researchers testing different molecules with properties that lent themselves to the tasks at hand.
Prof Wang said: “Making biofuels from renewable resources like glucose has great potential to advance green energy technology.
“Glucose is produced by plants through photosynthesis, which turns carbon dioxide (CO2) and water into oxygen and sugar.
“So the carbon in the glucose – and later the olefins – is actually from carbon dioxide that has been pulled out of the atmosphere.”
The scientists say more research is needed to understand the benefits of the new method and whether it can be scaled up efficiently for making biofuels or for other purposes.
The study is published in Nature Chemistry. Reference: Evening Standard: Nina Massey
Articles - Latest
- WEBB TELESCOPE DETECTS LIGHT FROM AN EARTH-LIKE PLANET
- FORMER LABOUR MINISTER AND CROSSBENCH PEER FRANK FIELD DIES AGED 81
- LOURDES PORTILLO DEAD AT 80:OSCAR-NOMINATED FILM DIRECTOR HAS PASSED AWAY
- VAMPIRE' NEUTRON STAR BLASTS ARE RELATED TO JETS TRAVELING AT NEAR-LIGHT SPEEDS
- THE MOON IS 40 MILLION YEARS OLDER — EXPLAINED
- BARBARA O.JONES DEAD AT 82: ACTRESS WHO STARRED ALONGSIDE MUHAMMAD ALI IN TV SERIES, HAS PASSED AWAY
- SIR CHIPS KESWICK, SCION OF THE JARDINE MATHESON DYNASTY WHO CHAIRED HAMBROS AND ARSENAL – OBITUARY
- NORMAN JEWISON OBITUARY
- TED TOLEMAN OBITUARY
- NASA FINDS MUTANT BACTERIA ON ISS THAT DOESN'T EXIST ON EARTH
- KENYA’S MILITARY CHIEF DIES IN HELICOPTER CRASH
- TERRY ANDERSON, US JOURNALIST HELD HOSTAGE NEARLY 7 YEARS IN LEBANON, DEAD AT 76
- SCIENTISTS DISCOVER 'ORIGIN STORY' OF GREAT SPHINX OF GIZA
- SIR ANDREW DAVIS OBITUARY
- CHINESE WOMAN POSING FOR PHOTO DIES AFTER FALL FROM EDGE OF CRATER ON INDONESIAN VOLCANO
- DROWNING OF WEALTHY HEIRESS WAS ‘ACQUISITIVE KILLING’, COURT HEARS
- Singer Mandisa dead at 47
- GOLF CHANNEL ‘BIG BREAK’ CO-HOST STEPHANIE SPARKS DIES AT AGE 50
- EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE POTENTIAL DISCOVERY AMELIA EARHART’S LONG-LOST PLANE
- Eleanor Coppola, ‘Hearts of Darkness’ director, dies at 87
- CARL ERSKINE, DODGERS LEGEND AND HUMAN RIGHTS ICON, DIES: 'THE BEST GUY I'VE EVER KNOWN'
- RESTLESS NATIVES AND STILL GAME ACTOR DIES AGED 64
- WATCH MOMENT EARTHQUAKE ROCKS UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING IN NEW YORK
Articles - Most Read
- Main
- Contact Us
- The science behind Ouija boards
- Cosmic Consciousness - What is Cosmic Consciousness-2
- Cosmic Consciousness-Introduction
- Cosmic Consciousness - Introduction-2
- MASSIVE 6.1 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HITS NEW ZEALAND AS NATION STILL REELING FROM CYCLONE
- ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNRAVEL THE TRUTH OF APHRODITE, GODDESS OF LOVE, ON VALENTINE'S DAY
- The Human Condition-Thomas Keating
- Cosmic Consciousness First Words - 1V - 2
- Cosmic Consciousness First Words - V -
- Cosmic Consciousness V - 2
- Cosmic consciousness - First Words - IV
- Cosmic Consciousness - What is Cosmic Consciousness?
- Evolution and Devolution-Chapter 2
- The Human Condition - Thomas keating-3
- The Human Condition-2-Thomas Keating
- Drinking From The Mountain Stream - Milarepa
- Cosmic Consciousness-On the Plane of Self Consciousness
- The Human Condition - 4
- Cosmic Consciousness - 3 - On the Plane of Self Consciousness
- Evolution and Devolution-Chapter 1
- The Human Condition - 6
- Shakyamuni Buddha or India the 1st “Black Revolutionary Hero.”
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness - 2
- Milarepa's World
- The Human Condition - 5
- Milarepa's World-2
- The Buddhist System of Liberation
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness IV
- Contemplation and the Divine Therapy - 2
- JERRY RAWLINGS, GHANAIAN STRONG MAN WHO CAME TO POWER IN A COUP BUT INTRODUCED DEMOCRACY – OBITUARY
- The Buddhist System of Liberation - 2
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness IV - 2