Engineers move a step closer to renewable diesel
18 Jan 2017
Chemical engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have genetically reprogrammed a strain of yeast to convert sugars to fats more efficiently.
If developed further, the breakthrough could be used to produce renewable forms of high-energy fuels such as diesel, the researchers said.
To reprogramme the yarrowia lipolytica strain of yeast, the researchers modified the metabolic pathways that naturally produce large quantities of lipids, to make them about 30% more efficient.
MIT professor and lead researcher Gregory Stephanopoulos said: “We have rewired the metabolism of these microbes to make them capable of producing oils at very high yields.”
So far, he said the team has harnessed roughly 75% of the yeast’s potential.
“There is an additional 25% that will be subject of follow-up work,” Stephanopoulos added.
A full account of the research has been published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
