Skipping a step in cellulosic ethanol production: new breakthrough

February 24, 2011 |

In Virginia, researchers at Virginia Tech researchers have discovered an enzyme mixture that works in the presence of the toxic infused liquid biomass (hydrolysate), meaning that the detoxification step is unnecessary, reducing the cost of producing biofuels as well as increasing biofuel yields by avoiding the production of by-products and synthesis of cell mass.

“Enzymes self-assemble a cell-free synthetic pathway; that is, we can put the desired biological reactions to work without the other complex interactions that take place within a cell,” said Y.H. Percival Zhang, associate professor of biological systems engineering at Virginia Tech.The research will be published in the Feb. 25 print issue of the journal Chemistry & Biolog.

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Category: Research

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