Researchers from different universities in London successfully created an alternative fossil fuel using the gut bacteria, or E. coli.
Scientists from the University of Turku in Finland, Imperial College London, and University College London suspended the natural biological process of the E. coli bacteria that transforms fatty acids into the cell membrane, and instead, engineered it to produce propane, according to the Huffington Post.
Propane is often called liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG. About 97 percent of its production comes from North America and is being used by millions of Americans per day, as well as restaurants and hotels for cooking, heating and other uses. E. coli, on the other hand, is bacteria that is commonly found in the intestines of humans and other animals.
The team developed a metabolic pathway using three enzymes: thioesterase to start the production of butyric acid, carboxylic acid reductase (CAR) to transform the butyric acid into butyraldehyde, and aldehyde-deforming oxygenase (ADO) to facilitate the creation of the end product. These pathways allowed them to resourcefully produce propane using E. coli.
Previous attempts to develop alternative fossil fuels using bacteria were not successful because researchers failed to use the natural power of the enzyme to produce fuel. The team behind this new research was able to resolve this problem by enhancing the catalytic capacity of the final enzyme.
"The study highlights how fundamental biological processes can be utilized to develop potentially benign technologies, ones that could be used to benefit both humankind and the environment," said study co-author Dr. Kalim Akhtar from the University College London.
The current amount of propane that the team was able to create using the technique is a thousand less than the required amount for it to be commercially available. The team plans to continue their study and improve the process to produce higher amounts of propane. Once successful, the E. coli bacteria could become an alternative source of fuel.
Further details of the study were published in the Sept. 3 issue of Nature Communications.
