CSU gets $2 million grant for cyanobacteria research

In Colorado, an interdisciplinary team of Colorado State University researchers has received a $2 million National Science Foundation grant to research new routes to the sustainable production of biofuels using photosynthetic bacteria. The team will be researching ways to increase the productivity and sustainability of the cultivation of photosynthetic microbes for greater yields of targeted molecules.

The grant addresses photosynthetic biorefineries, one of three research areas targeted by the NSF through its Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation program. The CSU research will be centered on cyanobacteria, blue-green bacteria that will be modified to convert carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons, similar to those in petroleum, through photosynthesis.