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Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) have found a way to nearly double the efficiency with which a commonly used industrial yeast strain converts plant sugars to biofuel. The newly engineered "super yeast" could boost the economics of making ethanol, specialty biofuels and bioproducts.
Though Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been the baker's and brewer's yeast of choice for centuries, it poses a unique challenge to researchers using it to make biofuel from cellulosic biomass such as grasses, woods, or the nonfood portion of plants. The world-famous microbe is highly adept at converting a plant's glucose to biofuel but is otherwise a picky eater, ignoring the plant's xylose, a five-carbon sugar that can make up nearly half of all available plant sugars.
"For cellulosic biofuels to become economically feasible, microbes need to be able to convert all of a plant's sugars, including xylose, into fuel," says Trey Sato, the GLBRC study's lead researcher and a UW–Madison associate scientist.
In a study published Friday (Oct. 14, 2016) in the journal PLOS Genetics, Sato and his GLBRC collaborators describe the isolation of specific genetic mutations that allow S. cerevisiae to convert xylose into ethanol, a finding that could transform xylose from a waste product into a source of fuel. To uncover these genetic mutations, the researchers had to untangle millions of years of evolution, teasing out what led S. cerevisiae to become so selective in its eating habits in the first place.
Yes, yes, biofuels. More importantly, does this mean we could brew beer from grass?
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Tuesday October 18 2016, @02:44AM
Iowa is known for its corn, and for its political power:
Since 1972, the Iowa caucuses have been the first major electoral event of the nominating process for President of the United States.
--https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_caucuses [wikipedia.org]
During the fall and early winter of every fourth year, the United States turns its full attention to the state of Iowa. The Des Moines Register newspaper gets the kind of political clout that The Washington Post or The New York Times do when its editors reveal which candidates their paper officially endorses.
[...]
During the 1976 presidential race, Jimmy Carter spent a year conducting a grassroots campaign in the state, and was rewarded with a huge victory in the caucus. Since then, candidates have spent an inordinate amount of time canvassing the state in order to bolster support.
--http://people.howstuffworks.com/iowa-caucus.htm [howstuffworks.com] et seq.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 18 2016, @03:58AM
If you want more proof, just look at the candidates comments about the Renewable Fuel Standard. Some of them were so behind in the polls, they didn't even wait for the results to flip-flop on the issue and go after the money elsewhere.