Team overcomes major obstacles to cellulosic biofuel production
Monday, January 3, 2011 - 11:40
in Physics & Chemistry
A newly engineered yeast strain can simultaneously consume two types of sugar from plants to produce ethanol, researchers report. The sugars are glucose, a six-carbon sugar that is relatively easy to ferment; and xylose, a five-carbon sugar that has been much more difficult to utilise in ethanol production. The new strain, made by combining, optimising and adding to earlier advances, reduces or eliminates several major inefficiencies associated with current biofuel production methods...