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[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]
Embraer, GE, Azul and Amyris in Renewable Jet Fuel Evaluation Project
November 19, 2009
| Amyris engineers microbes to convert sugar to hydrocarbon fuels. Micrograph of fermentation fluids from production of Amyris Renewable Diesel (Nov 2007). Source: Amyris. Click to enlarge. |
Embraer, General Electric, and Amyris Biotechnologies, a synthetic biology company focused on developing renewable hydrocarbon biofuels (earlier post) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to evaluate the technical and sustainability aspects of Amyris’ No Compromise renewable jet fuel. The initiative can culminate in a demo flight, by early 2012, of an Embraer E-Jet using GE engines and belonging to Azul Linhas Aéreas.
This collaboration combines industry leadership in airframe and engine manufacturing, a new and committed airline, and next-generation jet fuel development and production. The goal is to accelerate the introduction of a renewable jet fuel that could significantly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and provide a long-term sustainable alternative to petroleum-derived jet fuel.
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LS9 Closes $25M Round; Chevron Takes a Stake
September 24, 2009
| LS9 modifies the ACP pathway in bacteria to produce renewable hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals with optimized properties. Source: LS9. Click to enlarge. |
LS9 Company, a synthetic biology company producing renewable fuels and chemicals directly by fermentation, has successfully completed a $25 million round of funding. Participating investors included CTTV Investments LLC, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures LLC; Flagship Ventures; Khosla Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
LS9 has engineered a one-step process using to convert fatty acid intermediates into petroleum replacement products via fermentation of renewable sugars. LS9 has also discovered and engineered a new class of enzymes and their associated genes to efficiently convert fatty acids into hydrocarbons.
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J. Craig Venter Institute Researchers Clone and Engineer Bacterial Genomes in Yeast and Transplant Genomes Back into Bacterial Cells; Major Advance for Synthetic Biology
August 21, 2009
Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) report a major advance in synthetic biology. In a paper published online 20 August in the journal Science, they describe new methods with which the entire bacterial genome from Mycoplasma mycoides was cloned in a yeast cell by adding yeast centromeric plasmid sequence to the bacterial chromosome and modified in yeast using yeast genetic systems.
This modified bacterial chromosome was then isolated from yeast and transplanted into a related species of bacteria, Mycoplasma capricolum, to create a new type of M. mycoides cell. This is the first time that genomes have been transferred between branches of life—from a prokaryote to eukaryote and back to a prokaryote.
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New Cell Programming Method Could Significantly Boost Biotech and Synthetic Biology Work
July 27, 2009
| MAGE enables the rapid and continuous generation of sequence diversity at many targeted chromosomal locations across a large population of cells through the repeated introduction of synthetic DNA. Wang et al., Nature. Click to enlarge. |
A new cell programming method called Multiplex Automated Genome Engineering (MAGE) promises to give biotechnology, in particular synthetic biology, a powerful boost. MAGE was developed by a team led by a pair of researchers in the lab of Harvard Medical School Professor of Genetics George Church. In addition to his scientific accomplishments, Dr. Church co-founded Joule Biotech (solar fuels), LS9 (bio-petroleum), and Knome (full human genome sequencing).
Using the platform, the team rapidly refined the design of a bacterium by editing multiple genes in parallel instead of targeting one gene at a time. They transformed E. coli cells into efficient bio-factories that produced a desired compound in three days—a feat that would take most biotech companies months or years. A paper on their work was published online in the journal Nature on 26 July.
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ExxonMobil Launches Major Advanced Algal Biofuel Research and Development Program With Synthetic Genomics; More than $600M Targeted
July 14, 2009
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) has launched what it calls a “significant” new program to research and develop advanced biofuels from photosynthetic algae that are compatible with today’s gasoline and diesel fuels. As part of the program, ExxonMobil has formed a strategic research and development alliance with Synthetic Genomics Inc., a privately held company focused on developing genomic-driven solutions and founded by genome pioneer, Dr. J. Craig Venter.
Under the program, if research and development milestones are successfully met, ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million, which includes $300 million in internal costs. As part of the multi-faceted agreement, SGI will receive milestone payments for achievements in developing technology related to algal-based biofuels and related products. Total funding for SGI in research and development activities and milestone payments could amount to more than $300 million with the potential for additional income from licensing to third parties.
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Caltech Researchers Create Group of Synthetic, Thermostable Enzymes for Cellulosic Biofuel Production
March 24, 2009
| Portions of three natural fungal cellulase enzymes that have been recombined to produce a synthetic, thermostable cellulase are denoted by blue, green and red coloring. The recombined cellulase enzyme modeled here functions at higher temperatures than any of the three parents. Source: Caltech. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) led by Frances H. Arnold, the Dick and Barbara Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry at Caltech, and gene-synthesis company DNA2.0 have developed a new group of 15 highly stable fungal enzyme catalysts that efficiently break down cellulose into sugars at high temperatures for conversion into a variety of renewable fuels and chemicals.
Previously, fewer than 10 such fungal cellobiohydrolase II (CBH II) enzymes were known. In addition to their remarkable stabilities, Arnold’s enzymes degrade cellulose over a wide range of conditions. A paper on the work was published 23 March in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Researchers Engineer Bacteria to Produce Nonnatural Alcohols with Higher Energy Density
December 10, 2008
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| Schematic representation of the biosynthetic pathway of the 6-carbon alcohol 3-methyl-1-pentanol. The engineered nonnatural metabolic pathway is shaded in lavender. Click to enlarge. Credit: PNAS |
Researchers at UCLA have developed a nonnatural biosynthetic pathway enabling the bacteria Escherichia coli to produce various long-chain alcohols with carbon numbers ranging from 5 to 8. Higher carbon alcohols are attractive biofuel targets because they have higher energy density and lower water solubility. By way of comparison, ethanol has two carbons; butanol has four.
To demonstrate the feasibility of their approach, they optimized the biosynthesis of a 6-carbon alcohol: 3-methyl-1-pentanol. A paper on the work by Dr. James Liao and colleagues was published online 8 December in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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J. Craig Venter Institute Researchers Publish Significant Advance in Genome Assembly Technology; Yeast as a Genetic Factory
December 05, 2008
Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) have published a paper describing a significant advance in genome assembly in which the team can now assemble the whole bacterial genome, Mycoplasma genitalium, in one step from 25 fragments of DNA. Lead author Dr. Daniel G. Gibson and his team published their results in the online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The work was funded by the company Synthetic Genomics Inc. (SGI).
The new paper represents major improvements in the methods that the team developed and described in their January 2008 publication of the first synthesis of a bacterial genome, M. genitalium. (Earlier post.) That publication outlined how the team synthesized in the laboratory the 582,970 base pair M. genitalium genome using the chemical building blocks of DNA: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T).
