Using GMOs for Biofuel

Title: Biofuel breakthrough: scientists use GMO yeast to produce fuel

Website: ScienceNordic.com

Author: Kristian Sjøgren

Date of Publication: October 10, 2014

URL: http://sciencenordic.com/biofuel-breakthrough-scientists-use-gmo-yeast-produce-fuel

Summary: Two studies done at the Technical University of Denmark and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found ways to genetically modify yeast to make a more efficient way to produce cheaper biofuel.  One of the problems with yeast is that it is not very tolerant to the ethanol that its cells produce themselves.  The genetic engineering done at MIT has made the yeast more tolerant to its produced ethanol, meaning that the yeast doesn’t die when the ethanol concentration gets higher.  These studies found that their genetic engineering led to an eighty percent increase in the production of biofuel from the yeast.  Another problem with regular yeast is that it can only function at certain temperatures and yeast stops working at about 35°F.  The Danish study’s genetic engineering has made yeast able to withstand temperatures up to 45°F instead.  The studies found that a major difference was made when they added potassium chloride and potassium hydroxide.  This made the yeast cells able to withstand the ethanol that they produce making the production of biofuels cheaper and faster.  This biofuel is also looked at as a possible alternative to fossil fuels.

Connection: This article connects to our fifth unit where we looked at molecular biology.  In this unit we looked specifically at genetically modified organisms (GMOs).  We studied modern uses of genetically modified organisms and we specifically looked into the process of genetic engineering to give useful characteristics to different types of organisms.  However, we mostly looked into the use of GMOs to give farmers more profit or to make farming easier for themselves in examples such as pesticide resistance.  This article takes the use of GMOs outside the farm and looks at the benefit that they can bring to the energy industry.  However it does connect to farming as it does provide a cheaper alternative to using traditional crops, like in the case with farming.  This also connects to our first unit where we looked at different cycles, specifically the carbon cycle.  One of the main contributors of carbon emissions is the burning of fossil fuels.  Using genetically modified yeast to produce biofuel works as an alternative to using the limited source of fossil fuels.