Modified Secreting Cyanobacteria Are Like Tiny Biofuel Factories
We thought it was cool when a team of Arizona State researchers engineered genetic bombs that blow biofuel-producing cyanobacteria wide open, releasing their sweet fatty acids without intense chemical processing. But now those very same researchers have figured out how to get at those fatty acids in a far less violent manner: by genetically engineering cyanobacteria to secrete their fatty cargos directly through their cell walls. Bacteria are an ideal source for the key ingredient in biofuels -- they are receptive to genetic manipulation, they have a high energy yield that draws on the sun, they don't take up arable crop land and they're cheap. But the energy-intensive and costly processes that extract the good stuff from bacteria can turn an otherwise good fuel source into a less-than efficient one. But even after figuring out how to prompt an explosive cell suicide that turned the bacteria inside out, the ASU team...