E. Coli and Biodiesel (Lab 10)

As people try and find more and more resourceful ways to create environmentally friendly fuel sources some strange possibilities have surfaced. According to recent studies conducted by Chaitan Khosla, a professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at Stanford, the E. Coli virus that is generally associated with food poisoning might be very useful in creating biodiesel.

The kind of E. Coli that could be useful is actually the kind that already exists in our large intestines. Its ability to create fatty acids that closely resemble the make-up of gasoline from sugars and plant matter. The only problem that researchers have run into is that something in the E. coli inhibits it from creating fats to its full potential since its purpose in our bodies would be threatened if it behaved to its full potential. Once something can be found to disable this inhibitor the potential for E. coli created biodiesel would be enormous! Source: http://www.geekosystem.com/e-coli-biodiesel-creation/