Biofuel composition 'could be engineered' at metabolic level

Precise control over biofuel composition could arise in the future through metabolic engineering in the same way that synthetic organic chemistry currently allows for some substances to be created, predicts one scientist.

Jay Keasling, chemical engineer and world-renowned practitioner of metabolic engineering, has written a paper addressing the future of the discipline.

Manufacturing molecules through metabolic engineering, published in the journal Science, explains how biofuel composition could be made clean and green using the emerging technology.

This could in turn allow it to replace existing petrochemicals including transportation fuels and gasoline products.

"Metabolic engineering should be just as powerful as synthetic organic chemistry - and together the two disciplines can greatly expand the number of chemical products available from renewable resources," the author says.

He also oversees work undertaken at the biofuel laboratory of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, whose core values include integrity, ethics, a commitment to pioneering work and a "sense of urgency".