DOE announces $40 million for 31 microbe-based research projects benefiting biofuels and bioproducts

In Washington, on June 18 the U.S. Department of Energy announced $40 million in funding for 31 projects to advance research in the development of microbes as practical platforms for the production of biofuels and other bioproducts from renewable resources.

The projects will further the ongoing revolution in biology and biotechnology, and will increase our understanding of how nature’s sophisticated production capabilities at the cellular level can be harnessed to produce sustainable, clean, and efficient fuel as well as drive other industrial production processes.

Organisms under study range from yeast and fungi to cyanobacteria and rare thermophilic microbes that thrive at extremely high temperatures.  Products to be produced range from biofuels to alcohols to other valuable precursor chemicals with multiple possible downstream applications.

In addition to the projects focused on specific microorganisms, approximately one third of the projects are focused on developing and improving the essential imaging tools for this work of characterizing and modifying organisms on a microscopic scale.  Several of the projects also seek to enhance capabilities for real-time “in situ” imaging. This means observing in real-time how nature’s microscopic processes unfold in detail at the cellular level.