It has been discovered the gut of a termite contains bacteria that produce enzymes which are very efficient in the breakdown cellulose materials to produce energy. A study by the U.S. Department of Energy, the California Institute of Technology and biotech company Verenium have discovered a host of enzymes that help advance the cause of commercial generation of ethanol from cellulose sources.
The study used DNA analysis of bacteria found in the gut of Costa Rican termites to determine the different enzymes produced that allow the termites to digest cellulose for energy. The processes discovered in the study will help scientists understand how the termites turn cellulose into sugar, which could lead to more efficient processes to produce cellulosic ethanol.
Based on the results of the study, Verenium Corp. plans to identify and produce enzyme combinations that can be used for converting biomass feedstocks into biofuels. Verenium is the result of the merger if Diversa Corporation, a leader in enzyme technology, and Celunol Corporation, a developer of cellulosic ethanol technologies. The company claims to be the first public company with the integrated, end-to-end capabilities to make cellulosic biofuels a commercial reality”.
“Public” means we can buy stock in the company. The company trades on the NASDAQ with the symbol VRNM. The stock price is near the 52 week low, and though the stock charts go back several years to merger noted above just happened in June of 2007. The company has not really turned any of its technologies into serious revenue streams yet, but I will definitely keep an eye on it.
Source: BioBasedNews.com
Photo: Nasutitermes corniger termites photographed in Puerto Rico. Credit: David Gilbert, DOE Joint Genome Institute
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2 Comments
I hope that more than the one type of termite can be proven to be useful since they are so abundant almost everywhere. It would be ideal if they found that the enzymes are already cheap and readily available.
Thanks for the comment. I believe once the best enzymes are found they can be produced without the need of termites. The critters are just the source of the original ones.