UCI and CODA Genomics collaborate to re-engineer yeast for biofuel ... (he same amount of biomass by breaking it...)

UCI and CODA Genomics collaborate to re-engineer yeast for biofuel production

Date:9/4/2007

he same amount of biomass by breaking it down naturally.

The multidisciplinary research project involves UCI researchers in the schools of information and computer sciences, engineering and medicine, as well as researchers at CODA Genomics, which spun off in 2005 from UCI research.

CODAs patented technology uses computer algorithms to design synthetic genes that self-assemble easily and generate protein in large amounts. This allows genes that occur naturally in certain organisms to be re-engineered to meet the needs of different organisms. When applied to Saccharomyces, the technology modifies the yeast so it can manufacture enzymes to break down a wider variety of sugars.

Even when the yeast is producing the necessary enzymes, inefficiencies in its metabolic pathways can slow the process. Pierre Baldi, IGB director and one of the projects co-principal investigators, is computationally optimizing key enzymes to increase their efficiency. With computer algorithms, he is engineering compatibility of these key enzymes with various co-factors the small molecules that help the enzymes work.

Given the current energy crisis and global warming concerns, we are particularly pleased with this award, said Baldi, who is also Chancellors Professor in UCIs Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences.

Also involved in the multidisciplinary project are researchers from IGBs Computational Biology Research Laboratory (CBRL) in the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, and the labs of professors Suzanne Sandmeyer (biological chemistry) and Nancy Da Silva (biochemical engineering).

CBRL scientists perform the computation, gene design and gene assembly of the yeast proteins using CODAs technology. Sandmeyer, a yeast molecular biologist, inserts the proteins into the yeast genome, ensuring the enzymes stability and their ability to function. Da Silva, a chemical engineer, ensures that
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Contact: Anna Lynn Spitzer
aspitzer@uci.edu
949-824-3317
University of California - Irvine
Source:Eurekalert

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UCI and CODA Genomics collaborate to re-engineer yeast for biofuel ...(he same amount of biomass by breaking it...)