E.coli strain unlocks affordable ethanol potential in seaweed

In California, researchers at the Bio Architecture Lab  have engineered a strain of E coli to digest the sugars in brown seaweed and produce ethanol. This bacteria, unlike others produced previously, attacks the primary sugar constituent in seaweed, making the process much more efficient. According to Daniel Trunfio, BAL’s CEO, the progress “makes the biomass an economical feedstock for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals.”