Growing fuel and medicine: Advancing biofuels and plant-produced th... (ologies specifically designed to overcom...)

Growing fuel and medicine: Advancing biofuels and plant-produced therapeutics

Date:10/27/2008

ologies specifically designed to overcome these barriers are currently in development, from mechanical/chemical techniques designed to destroy the lignin barrier, to enzyme cocktails, and finally to genetic engineering techniques to design a "super digester" of these complex structural materials. In the WPI Bioprocess Center, naturally occurring organisms have been isolated and their genes modified to generate enhanced enzymes for improved and cost-effective cellulolytic breakdown. As part of our ongoing efforts, starting with dissected termite gut; native organisms have been cultivated and modified to yield enhanced enzymatic activity.

"The Arkansas Bioscience Institute: What it is and its research activities"

Carole Cramer, PhD Executive Director, Arkansas Bioscience Institute at Arkansas State University

The Arkansas Biosciences Institute is a five-member research consortium funded by Arkansas' Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act of 2000. The consortium is focused on cutting edge research at the interface of agriculture and medicine with the long term goal of enhancing the health of Arkansans and the nation. At Arkansas State University, a new state-of-the-art research building was constructed to house this new endeavor with a grand opening held in September 2004. Since 2004, dynamic cross-disciplinary research clusters have been developed in four target areas: plant-based bioproduction of proteins for medical and biofuels applications; plant metabolic engineering; molecular innovations in food sciences; and the interface of environment, agriculture, and human disease. The institute provides excellent support facilities in plant transformation and propagation, analytical instrumentation, and microscopy. It also provides a unique interface between researchers focused on plant biology and plant-based bioproduct and those involved with research on human diseases, addiction, neurobiology, and vaccine development. Examples o
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Contact: Michael Cohen
mcohen@wpi.edu
508-868-4778
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Source:Eurekalert

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Growing fuel and medicine: Advancing biofuels and plant-produced th...(ologies specifically designed to overcom...)