Genetically Altered Bacterium Creates Diesel Fuel
- Hydrocarbons: a compounds containing only hydrogen and carbon
- Alkanes: any saturated hydrocarbon with the formula C n H 2 n +2
- Cyanobacterium: a photosynthetic bacteria, also called blue-green alga, that produces molecular oxygen and uses water as an electron-donating substrate in photosynthesis
A biotech company won a patent on genetically altered bacteria that takes carbon dioxide and sunlight and converts it into ingredients of diesel fuel. The bacterium secretes the product, in the alkane class, like sweat. Fortunately, the organism can grow in water that is not drinkable and useless farmland. The bacteria is a cyanobacterium and it produces the fuel through photosynthesis. This organism avoids the need of energy to separate the algae from the water and then process the oil into a useable fuel. It can run on carbon dioxide in the ordinary air, but it will perform better with power plant exhaust.
Discussion
This scientific discovery can be the future replacement of fossil fuels. Photosynthesis is a simple yet effective way of creating the secreting diesel fuel. Once this project is up and running with factories, the goal of replacing fossil fuels is easily reachable. If the bacterium uses carbon dioxide in its process, the global problem of pollution will be less of a dilemma. I chose this topic because this could be a milestone for environmental science, and lead to other discoveries that solve different global problems.
Questions
How many years can these genetically altered bacterium be created for?
Can these biofuels eventually be used in the future to power most of the world?
Resources
Wald, Matthew L. New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/science/earth/14fuel.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=science\>.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/science/earth/14fuel.html?src=me&ref=science
