Renewable resource or the end of life as we know it? Researchers rewire bacteria from needing sugar to eating carbon dioxide
05/25/2021 / By Cassie B.
Bacteria that eat carbon dioxide instead of sugar are being hailed as a potential solution to climate change, but could this approach signal the end of life as we know it?
Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have found a way to engineer Escherichia coli bacteria to convert carbon dioxide into energy for themselves while also generating biomass that could be used as a biofuel. The finding came after nearly a decade of research that included genetic engineering and a quick form of “lab evolution.”
E. coli is a rod-shaped type of bacterium that is a normal component of intestinal bacterial flora. Under certain conditions, some strains of this bacteria can cause infections like gastroenteritis. However, E. coli is valuable to researchers because its genome can be manipulated easily by scientists for carrying out different functions.
https://www.climate.news/2021-05-25-researchers-rewire-bacteria-to-eat-carbon-dioxide.html#
