A research project that revolves around the fermentative production of renewable energy and chemical products has won subsidies and funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, according to a report of Shenzhen Economic Daily on Monday.
At a symposium Sunday, Yu Tao, a professor at the Center for Synthetic Biochemistry (CSB) of Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology under Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, said metabolism is the base of microbial activities. His research team is trying to construct a brand new fat acid cell bank through micro-organism engineering and fermentative production, which can further lower the production cost of fat acid and its derivatives that can be used as biodiesel.
The production of sustainable bio-based renewable energy has emerged as an essential alternative to replace fossil fuels that have long been the energy source for our daily lives. The use of fossil fuels is facing serious challenges including depletion of reserves and their role in global warming.
Compared with fossil fuels, fat-acid-based biofuels are dense in energy storage, and potentially irreplaceable in the fields of heavy machinery and aviation. In addition, fat acids can be widely used in producing chemical products.
The CSB was built from cross disciplinary research groups that bring together many outstanding young talented people in the fields of microbiology, synthetic biology, materials chemistry, metabolic engineering and analytical chemistry. It engages in building a cutting-edge synthetic biology technology platform to transform the natural metabolism that already exists in nature (found in fungi, plants and animals) in synthetic microorganisms that are able to transform cheap raw materials into valuable natural or nonnatural products.