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Tech Corner: Translating research into revolutionary technologies
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Beetle-Dwelling Yeast Holds Promise for Biofuel Production
Tom Jeffries is a scientist in the truest sense of the word. His passion for studying biofuel is evident as he describes his 40-year career in the field, yet he emphasizes that he is careful not to favor one technology over another.
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Instead, Jeffries relies on pragmatism to guide his research.
"Yeast are very resilient, there is a long history of their commercialization, and we understand the technology," he says of yeast's role in converting plant biomass to ethanol.
"Making it work economically is what's hard."
Jeffries, a Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center scientist and University of Wisconsin-Madison bacteriology professor, has recently published a paper describing a new type of yeast that can ferment plant sugars to ethanol much more efficiently than other species.
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Biofuels Beat: An inside look at the latest GLBRC science
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GLBRC Researchers Develop Plants with Fat-Storing Leaves
Christoph Benning and a team of other GLBRC researchers have developed a plant with leaves that store oil - an important step forward in bioenergy research.
 Since cellulosic biofuels are made from plant leaves and stems, Benning's accomplishment marks a significant early step towards producing better bioenergy plants. Oils are the most concentrated source of energy a plant can produce. In fact, these oils have an energy density very similar to petroleum-based fuels. Since oils occur naturally in plant seeds, much research has explored development of seeds with higher lipid (oil) concentrations. However, because plants don't typically store lipids in their leaves or stems, less progress has been made toward producing oil-rich leaves.
To encourage plants to store oil in their leaves, Benning and his colleagues identified a gene from one-celled green algae and inserted it into the DNA of Arabidopsis thaliana - a plant from the mustard family. They found that the inserted gene successfully boosted oil levels in the plant's leafy tissue.
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Q&A: GLBRC alumni spotlight
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Julie Sinistore, Senior Life Cycle Analyst, Virent, Inc. | |
Sinistore
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GLBRC: What was your role at GLBRC, and when did you work here?
JS: I started in September 2008 at UW-Madison as a research assistant working on the life cycle assessment of cellulosic ethanol production from switchgrass and corn stover. I looked at a variety of different agricultural production scenarios and two different pretreatment systems, taking feedstock from agricultural production to ethanol generation. GLBRC: What is your current position, and what are your responsibilities? JS: My title is Senior Life Cycle Analyst. I do all the LCA work on projects such as Coca-Cola's initiative to make world's first 100 percent bio-based polyethylene terephthalate [PET] bottle.
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