Biofuels pioneer makes synthetic “cell engine”; first step towards artificial life

In Massachusetts, the co-founder of advanced biofuels producer LS9, Professor George Church of Harvard Medical School, said that his two-man research team at Harvard had synthesized an artificial ribosome, a “biological machine” or “cell engine” that is found in every living organism and is the biological manufacturer of proteins.

The breakthrough makes possible the development of new, artificial “designer” enzymes for cellulosic breakdown, as well the as the possibility of artificial life itself. Church downplayed the “artificial life” angle himself in comments with reporters, saying only that it was only an important step in that direction, that a ribosome was an essential component in a synthetic life form.

However, the researchers have developed a means of synthetically replicating proteins in lab dishes, and successfully synthesized luciferase, the protein that causes fireflies to glow, in a test. A potential benefit of such study is the development of cellular life that contains higher lipid or starch content for biofuel production, or converts a higher range of light wavelengths to plant energy and competes with solar thin-film photovoltaic cells in solar efficiency.

The breakthrough has not yet been reported in peer-reviewed academic journals, and is part of Church’s Harvard research, not IP owned by LS9.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Synthetic Genomic’s Craig Venter says “synthetic life forms” by the end of the year; biofuels nano-reactors on the horizon?

[caption id="attachment_10829" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Ribosome image produced by produced by Harry Noller at the University of California Santa Cruz, Venki Ramakrishnan at the Univers...

Qatar Airways, Shell, Rolls Royce and Airbus to study gas-to-liquid alternative fuels

A group of companies including Qatar Airways, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Fuel, Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Shell limited and the Qatar Science and Technology Park announced an agreement to jointly conduct a stud...

Italian research teams examines ethanol-to-hydrogen fuel cell system

In Italy, researchers at the University of Milano are testing an ethanol-powered GH2-5000 Energy System fuel cell made by Helbio and Exergy Fuel Systems, that produces five KW of electrical energy and...

Hydrogen Hybrid displays new hybrid fuel cell system, reports 30-50 percent fuel economy boost in testing

In California, Hydrogen Hybrid said that it will display a class 8 semi truck with a modified hydrogen hybrid fuel cell system. The system, according to the company, produces enough hydrogen to increa...

GM launches first B20 biodiesel certified engine

In Michigan, GM announced its first B20 biodiesel certified engine. The 6.6 liter Duramax V8 diesel engine appears in the Chevy Express van, and is capable of towing more than 17,000 pounds, should ge...

NASA researchers assemble “Rosettazyme” synthetic cellusome, potentially increasing cellulosic conversion efficiency

In California, researchers at the NASA Ames Research Center are reporting progress in the development of a synthetic cellusome, a self-assembling enzyme complex that is highly efficient in conversion ...