UC Davis researchers modify cyanobacteria to grow without light

May 22, 2013 |

In California, scientists at the University of California, Davis have engineered a strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria to grow without the need for light. The cyanobacterium strain Synechococcus elongatus strain PCC 7942 has been well characterized as a model photoautotroph. Previous work by Atsumi’s lab has engineered this organism to recycle carbon dioxide into a variety of biofuels and valuable chemicals in the presence of light. Any cost-effective, cyanobacterial biofuel production scheme would use natural lighting conditions, limiting how much biofuel could be produced in a 24-hour period.

Category: Research

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