University of Wisconsin researcher spins out company tackling lactic acid in ethanol production

In Wisconsin, a researcher from the University of Wisconsin has spun out a company called Lactic Solutions to advance a judo-like remedy for lactic acid production during ethanol fermentation: using genetic engineering to transform enemy into friend. Instead of killing lactic acid bacteria with antibiotics, he’s spliced in genes for ethanol production so these organisms produce ethanol, not lactic acid. About 70 percent of ethanol plants fight lactic acid bacteria with antibiotics, including erythromycin, virginiamycin and penicillin. But these and other life-saving drugs are the subject of frantic concern as bacteria evolve resistance to one antibiotic after another.