Scientist have long suspected they could modify an existing microbe to produce biofuel from plant products. They may now be one step closer with a strain of e. coli.
"Scientists with the Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) recently published a paper in the journal Nature explaining how they engineered the e. coli strain to spit out fatty esters (basically biodiesel) … tweaked the e. coli so that it produces more fat than it normally would in a form it normally wouldn’t, and they also made sure the bugs didn’t eat their own fatty production. …"
"Ideally … would lead to a tiny, self-contained oil well: In comes plants, out comes fuels or chemicals. …"
"… biofuels breakthroughs are published with some regularity. But no one has been able yet to turn these breakthroughs into industrial processes that can produce something useful on a large scale at reasonable cost. …"
Via: Forbes LINK