{"id":11417,"date":"2021-05-12T12:21:41","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T11:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=11417"},"modified":"2021-05-12T12:21:41","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T11:21:41","slug":"engineered-bacteria-sustainable-biofuel-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/engineered-bacteria-sustainable-biofuel-industry\/11417\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineered bacteria offer promise to sustainable biofuel industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
Acetone is a volatile solvent used for a wide range of applications, from removing nail polish to manufacturing plastics. Now, with new research conducted in Japan, it could get a sustainability boost from novel engineered bacteria developed by the team.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s research on the acetone-producing bacteria, known as Moorella thermoacetica<\/em>, was published in AMB Express<\/em>.<\/p>\n Generally, acetone is generated through a cost-effective but not so sustainable method called cumene. The technique entails transforming two non-renewable resources into acetone and phenol, another chemical that facilitates the production of a number of materials, such as plastics.<\/p>\n According to Yutaka Nakashimada, research leader and professor in the Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life<\/a> at Hiroshima University explained that more environmentally friendly processes \u2013 such as gas fermentation \u2013 exist, however, these can be difficult and costly to achieve.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought the key is a simultaneous separation of the product from the ongoing fermentation,\u201d Nakashimada said. \u201cOur choice was to produce volatile chemicals by using a group of bacteria thriving at high temperatures.\u201d<\/p>\n