Amzar File

colorized electron micrograph of a cluster of E. coli bacteria is shown in this undated handout from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


Study: E.coli bacteria can be altered to make fuel

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 20 -- E.coli, a strain of bacteria found in human digestive tracts, can be genetically altered to make fuel, a new study showed.

Scientists at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA)have for the first time produced E.coli that can generate alcohol with five carbon atoms per molecule, instead of the normal two or three, according to the study published in the December edition of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Alcohol molecules with eight carbon atoms may also be possible, the researchers said in the study.

E.coli, which is usually associated with polluted beaches, can be modified so that each cell can generate "long-chain alcohol," an advance that could reduce global warming and increase fuel efficiency by using the bacteria to excrete a better form of fuel, said the researchers.

The genetically modified E.coli has the potential of making jetfuel, gasoline and other petroleum products that deliver much more energy, the study noted.

"We wanted to create larger, longer-chain molecules because they contain more energy," the study said. "This is significant in the production of gasoline and even jet fuel."

The new E.Coli bugs would be unleashed on organic material, much like Ethanol is produced from corn. But Ethanol has only two carbon atoms per molecule, and the greater the number of carbon atoms from the bacteria will increase the density of the biofuel, the study said.

The E.coli will be able to create biofuels that reduce pollution and deliver much-more energy per molecule than traditional biofuels like Ethanol, said lead scientist James Liao, at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Ketchun Zang, a co-author of the study, said E.coli was chosen for modification because "the genetic system is well known, it grows quickly and we can engineer it very easily.

"But this technique can actually be used on many different organisms, opening the door to vast possibilities in the realm of polymer (manufacturing), as well as drug manufacturing."