Fuel From Microbes, Part I
It’s the perfect give-and-take relationship: Bacteria and yeast break down what we don’t want—organic waste and biomass—and excrete what we do want—biofuels like ethanol and butanol.

Recently, ethanol has been heralded as a cleaner, more energy-efficient fuel than gasoline, and yeast has emerged as a boon to fuel researchers because it naturally produces ethanol from sugars, an ability that traditionally has been used to leaven bread and ferment beer.

At MIT, scientists have engineered a new yeast strain that can survive in high levels of sugar and ethanol, producing 50 percent more ethanol than its natural cousins. But biofuel potential does not stop there. UCLA scientists have created E. Coli that produce butanol, which packs even more energy than ethanol.


Fuel From Microbes, Part II
Researchers in Silicon Valley may also have found a promising alternative fuel source from a tiny helper. By genetically engineering bacteria and yeast, they were able to convert fatty acids into petroleum replacement products. In this process, the organisms can produce hydrocarbon-based fuels from organic waste. In addition to being renewable, this "Oil 2.0," as the researchers call it, is also carbon neutral—the microbes use about the same amount of carbon to produce the oil as will be emitted when it burns.

E. coli

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Microbial Materials
The tag on your t-shirt may one day read, "Ninety nine percent cotton and one percent E. Coli." Infusing bacteria or viruses into clothing materials may give them super properties, such as self-cleaning clothes or naturally glow-in-the-dark designs. In industrial settings, engineered viruses may be able to bind to stress points in metal surfaces and illuminate them.

In perhaps the first case of microbial fashion design, Dartmouth scientists have genetically engineered E. Coli and developed a vacuum pump that infuses the bacteria into textile fibers. One possible application would be self-cleaning clothes in which the bacteria feed on human sweat and dirt. Other prospects include daily wear, military uniforms, or bandages that can eat odors, repel water, glow in the dark, or release healing agents directly into wounds.

Viral Assembly Lines
Viruses are always on the prowl for hosts to invade. Researchers have taken advantage of this ability and created viruses to target inanimate objects as well. MIT researchers have genetically engineered viruses to produce proteins that attach to specific metal alloys at stress points in airplanes. In a few years, they say, technicians may be able to cover an airplane wing with microbes, detect what areas are in greater danger of failure, and fix them before take-off.