From Toilet to Gas Tank

E. coli cells

With the climbing price of gas, the race for a cost efficient alternative energy source has began. One of the many alternate fuel sources scientists are researching is bio-energy and is described in this article http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/02/6172484-bacteria-turned-into-biofuel-factories . In this article, scientists have discovered a process to genetically engineer E. coli, a bacteria found in the feces of animals and humans that can cause diarrhia or kidney failure and is potentially fatal, to produce a gasoline like fuel called n-butanol.

N-butanol is naturally created by different species of Clostridium bacteria, not inclulding E.coli. Scientists increased the rate at which the Clostridium made the n-butanol. The problem arose that Clostridium could not be easily grown on an industrial scale. and blockers needed to be developed because while it makes n-butanol it also “unmakes’ it. The researchers had to find another bacteria that could create the same compound, be grown easily, and genetically altered efficiently.

Scientists began injecting E.coli cells, which are easier to grow on an industrial scale, with the Clostridium genes, which worked but was not effective enough to be used for mass production. In order to create more of the n-butanol , the researchers began to replace two enzymes that the E.coli possessed, which were similar to the Clostridium genes. This procedure turned out to be successful. The E.coli was able to make the n-butanol, creating five grams of the fuel per liter of the cell, which was a greater result than any other E.coli or yeast strain, but didn’t make nearly the amount the Clostridium bacteria are able to produce.

Although, the Clostridium is able to produce more fuel, the researchers involved believe that it has reach it potential and the E.coli, with a little more “tweaking” will be able to produce just as much as the original Clostridium cells,maybe even more. Another benefit of producing this fuel is that is a relatively “green” process because the feedstock of the bacteria is plant matter which is a naturally renewable resource. E-coli may be a green solution to the fuel crisis.