Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, uses cookies to personalize your experience and improve our services. For more information on how we use cookies on our websites, visit our Cookie Policy.
News Chemistry

Bacteria take plants to biofuel in one step

Engineered microbe singlehandedly transforms switchgrass to ethanol

SUPER MICROBE  Given switchgrass (shown), a modified bacterium can break down the plant, ferment sugars and produce ethanol for biofuel in a single step.

Forest and Kim Starr/Flickr (CC by 2.0)

By Beth Mole

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Chemistry

  1. a marine parchment tube worm glows blue against a black background
    Chemistry

    Here’s a clue to how this tube worm’s slime can glow blue for days

    By Carolyn Wilke
  2. illustration of astronaut standing outside a lunar base
    Chemistry

    Astronauts may be able to make cement using their own pee

    By Lisa Grossman
  3. The Scream painting
    Chemistry

    Moisture, not light, explains why Munch’s ‘The Scream’ is deteriorating

    By Maria Temming
  4. fruit from the plant Chrozophora tinctoria
    Chemistry

    Ancient recipes led scientists to a long-lost natural blue

    By Carolyn Wilke
  5. Element character illustration
    Physics

    Here’s how the periodic table gets new elements

    By Helen Thompson
  6. beets and blue dye made from beets
    Chemistry

    Beets bleed red but a chemistry tweak can create a blue hue

    By Carmen Drahl
  7. coronavirus computer illustration
    Health & Medicine

    You can help fight the coronavirus. All you need is a computer

    By Maria Temming
  8. movie theater
    Chemistry

    Thirdhand smoke wafting off moviegoers hurts air quality in theaters

    By Maria Temming

From the Nature Index

Paid Content