Michigan State researchers develop one-step procedure for cellulosic ethanol enzymes; growing them inside the crop, instead of in bioreactors

In Michigan, researchers at Michigan State have developed a process to insert enzymes used to break down cellulose, into crops such as corn. The process, which is just beginning a testing phase, would eliminate the need to insert the same genes in e.coli bacteria and breed the enzymes in large-scale, costly bioreactors. Instead, the enzymes would grow with the plant, using solar energy, and would be released when the plant is harvested and ground up. The process would also substantially reduce the energy inputs needed to produce cellulosic ethanol.

“Single-step” approaches to cellulosic ethanol have been in focus as companies attempt to reduce  production cost. Earlier this month, Mascoma received another $10 million in financing with an equity investment by Marathon Oil. Mascoma’s “single-step” production system for cellulosic ethanol has attracted attention for its potential to eliminate cost and risk in scale-up towards commercial scale cellulosic ethanol.

Sun Ethanol is another company working on a single-step procedure, in this case exploiting the potential of the Q microbe.

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