Researchers Discover Fuel from E.coli Bacteria

After attending the INTEL international science and engineering fair last spring, I noticed that many of the projects pertained to the regeneration of fossil fuels and the effort to come up with an alternative fuel source. I quickly became enthralled on this topic, as many of the kids were, proving that fuels could be made out of a number of rather simple (and typically otherwise wasted) materials. Upon research  I came across this article first. It is about researchers who have engineered a renewable propane based upon a harmless “gut bacteria”, escherichia coli (E.coli). In this study, scientists replicated a biological process, using the E. coli as a host organism, which turns fatty acids into cell membranes; however, instead of proceeding through the entire process, they interrupted it prematurely in order to extract the butyric acid, which is necessary for propane production. This process, which seems simple, is rather complicated; in order to stop the natural process the scientists had to discover a new enzyme, thioesterase, which hunts down the fatty acids, taking them out of the natural process. After this, they have to use a second enzyme, named CAR, to transfer the butyric acid into butyraldehyde. Finally, the last step in this procedure was to add a third enzyme, aldehyde-deformylating oxygenase, which creates hydrocarbons, to make the final product, propane. This process, although in its early stages, is truly groundbreaking for the science and consumer world, as it is engine-ready upon immediate conclusion. Creative and inquisitive minds like the ones behind this research are what keeps science alive and always changing, and without them our world would not be the same. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140902114414.htm

Submitted by Alexandra Frank