Phys.org November 22, 2021 A team of researchers in the US (UC Berkeley, University of Minnesota) has harnessed biology and chemistry to turn glucose into olefins. They genetically engineered E. coli to produce a suite of four enzymes that convert glucose into compounds called 3-hydroxy fatty acids. As the bacteria consumed the glucose, they also started to make the fatty acids. To complete the transformation, they used niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) a catalyst to chop off unwanted parts of the fatty acids in a chemical process, generating the final product: the olefins. According to the team more research is needed to […]
Tag Archives: Biochemistry
Nature’s strongest glue now works in both wet and salty environments
Phys.org October 27, 2021 An aquatic bacterium called Caulobacter crescentus produces an extremely powerful glue called “holdfast,” which adheres to its surrounding wet surfaces, such as pipes and fresh water. To improve holdfast adhesion in high salinity environments researchers in Canada compared Caulobacter crescentus with a marine relative called Hirschia baltica. They found both had the same genes to synthesize holdfast indicating they used the same type of glue. Hirschia baltica holdfast also appeared to perform very well in a saline environment, which is its natural environment. By manipulating the level of expression of a particular gene whose function is […]