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Earlier this summer, a deadly strain of E. coli made it dangerous to eat salad or other uncooked vegetables in Germany throughout most of Europe. It’s because of that scare it may come as a surprise to hear scientists are working to engineer E. coli to become a source for biodiesel.
Scientists presented findings on the subject at the Aspen Ideas Festival last week. Jay Keasling, chief executive officer of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute, spoke about E. coli as a source for biofuel to attendees of the festival.
E. coli, along with most microbes, make and process fatty acids. This produce is a necessary ingredient in biodiesel. To produce the desired ingredient, scientists must engineer the bacteria to produce fatty esters, the primary components of biodiesel.
The bacteria already produces such a component, but scientists plan to engineer the E. coli to remove the enzymes in some competing pathways to enhance the fatty acid production. The advanced esters “make better biofuel material,” according to an article on Ars Technica.
According to Keasling, several companies are at work on the technology. A Reuters article states a five-year timeframe before E. coli becomes available, and even longer before biofuels become mainstream and outpace petroleum.
“It’s going to be a long time before biofuels are a serious challenge to petroleum,” Keasling said in the Reuters article. He went on to say reaching critical mass was likely to take at least two decades.
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