In New York state, in a package featuring seven new studies, scientists of the Synthetic Yeast Genome Project (Sc2.0) who previously constructed a single yeast chromosome now report constructing five more – representing more than one-third of yeast’s entire genome, in total. The results are major progress on the road to building the first fully […]
In New Mexico, Sandia National Laboratories is testing strains of algae for resistance to a host of predators and diseases, and learning to detect when an algae pond is about to crash. These experiments are part of the new, $6 million Development of Integrated Screening, Cultivar Optimization and Validation Research (DISCOVR) project, whose goal is […]
In Brazil, Embrapa Agroenergia (DF) was able to identify species of microalgae that can be cultivated in liquid waste from agroindustrial processes, effluents.This crop can generate renewable raw material for biofuels, feed, cosmetics and various other products.The research, which lasted three years, also resulted in the discovery of previously unknown species in Brazilian biodiversity. The […]
In Wisconsin, researchers from the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee are tackling the main obstacle of keeping genetically modified switchgrass off the commercial market. It’s the possibility that lab-engineered genes could escape human control by mixing with genes of wild-growing grasses, which might interrupt natural processes in unpredictable ways. Genetically modified tomatoes were first approved for human […]
In Malaysia, national experts have pointed the finger at the government for failing to invest sufficiently in palm oil R&D for biodiesel during the past 30 years that has left the country and its industry behind others like the US and Brazil who have been innovating extensively to improve biodiesel production. Criticism was also pointed […]
In Illinois, a semiautonomous robot may soon be roaming agricultural fields gathering and transmitting real-time data about the growth and development of crops, information that crop breeders—and eventually farmers—can use to identify the genetic traits in plants likely to produce the greatest yields. A team of scientists from the Carle R. Woese Institute for Genomic […]
In Japan, scientists from Tokyo Institute of Technology lead by Professor Hiroyuki Ohta have made breakthroughs in understanding the mechanisms underlying microalgae’s oleaginous trait by investigating lipid metabolism in Nannochloropsis oceanica. TAGs are synthesized in the extraplastidic Kennedy pathway through sequential addition of three fatty acyl moieties to the glycerol backbone. Among the participating enzymes, […]
In Minnesota, a team of scientists from the University of Minnesota; the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory; the University of Wisconsin, Madison; Gyeongsangnam-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Republic of Korea; and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found evidence that brown rot fungi separate the oxidants and enzymes in time rather than in space. The team discovered […]
In Iowa, Iowa State University is reporting that it will bring its expertise in biorenewable technologies and pilot plant operations to the country’s 10th Manufacturing USA Institute. The recently announced advanced manufacturing institute is dedicated to improving the productivity and efficiency of chemical manufacturing, and could save the chemical industry more than $9 billion annually, […]
In New Jersey, to improve bioreactor efficiency, researchers at Princeton University will create an integrated approach to monitoring and controlling the organisms’ metabolic activity thanks to support from the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund. Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google parent company Alphabet Inc., and his wife, Wendy, created the $25 million endowment […]
