Scientists Create Triple-Threat Genetic Toolkit for Producing Eco-Friendly Chemicals

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Researchers have developed a triad of innovative tools to engineer low-pH-tolerant yeast Issatchenkia orientalis for production of valuable bioproducts from renewable biomass.

Researchers have developed a triad of innovative tools to engineer low-pH-tolerant yeast Issatchenkia orientalis for production of valuable bioproducts from renewable biomass.

A paper published in Metabolic Engineering outlines the study’s three-pronged approach and its importance to the field of sustainable chemical production.

The team was led by Mingfeng Cao, a Research Scientist in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE). Cao works in ChBE Professor Huimin Zhao’s lab at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), a U.S. Department of Energy-funded Bioenergy Research Center (BRC). CABBI Postdoctoral Researcher Zia Fatma, also in Zhao’s lab, is a coauthor of the study.

In an effort to decrease dependence on nonrenewable fossil fuels, scientists are exploring methods of producing valuable products from renewable biomass using organisms such as yeast. Generating economically competitive quantities of these products involves metabolic engineering — editing cells’ genetic blueprint to produce greater quantities of desired substances.

Read more at

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign Institute For Sustainability, Energy, And Environment

Image Credit: Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Biofuels Innovation