Berkeley Lab researchers modify microbe to boost bio-based products production

November 10, 2020 |

In California, researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have achieved unprecedented success in modifying a microbe to efficiently produce a compound of interest using a computational model and CRISPR-based gene editing.

Their approach could dramatically speed up the research and development phase for new biomanufacturing processes, and get cutting-edge bio-based products such as sustainable fuels and plastic alternatives on the shelves faster.

The process uses computer algorithms—based on real-world experimental data—to identify what genes in a “host” microbe could be switched off to redirect the organism’s energy toward producing high quantities of a target compound, rather than its normal soup of metabolic products.

Category: Research

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