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A promising new system can convert fronds of brown seaweed into biofuel, opening up a new possible source of energy that could help replace fossil fuels, like gasoline, scientists reported Thursday, Jan. 19.
The secret: bacteria genetically engineered to break down a previously inaccessible sugar in seaweed, called alginate.
The researchers who developed this new system used it to generate ethanol, a biofuel that is added to gasoline; however, it has the potential to produce not just ethanol but other biofuels, they and others say.
The new system is like a Lego platform, said Yasuo Yoshikuni, a study researcher and chief science officer and co-founder at Bio Architecture Lab in California. With changes to the components in the process, the same microbe-based system could be used to produce a variety of products, Yoshikuni said.
For instance, the system could be used to turn seaweed into a source (also called a feedstock) for other biofuels, which could include butanol an alcohol, like ethanol, that is blended into gas or chemicals used in biodiesel, which has properties similar to conventional, petroleum-based diesel.
Microbes inhabiting the digestive tract have a significant affect on digestive, metabolic and autoimmune disorders, said Wu Chun-ying, doctor of gastroenterology and hepatology at Taichung Veterans General Hospital and the consortium’s president. Microbes extracted from feces could be administered by pills or suppositories to change a patient’s gut flora to treat ailments, he said citing an international study, adding that doctors in the US has been treating pseudomembranous enteritis using this method.
Wu said the gut microbiota of laboratory mice and humans share a 90 percent similarity, adding that he successfully introduced microbes to mice that maintained their weight, despite them consuming normal portions and being prevented from exercise. Mice undergoing the procedure had lower rates of diabetes and normal levels of blood lipids, blood sugar and liver function, he said, adding that human clinical trials were conducted in 2015.
Researchers used to focus on a single microbe species, but analyses aided by information technology have enabled mass research of thousands of microbial species at a time, Wu said. Recent studies revealed that gut microbes play a surprisingly important role in many diseases and disorders that range from obesity, allergies, cancer, depression, Parkinson’s disease and autism, he said. Gut microbes are being researched in the US, Japan and Western Europe, and human clinical trials have begun in many nations, Wu said, calling on the government to promote research in the field.
Gut microbes may be used to cure illnesses: doctor - Taipei Times
