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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Engineered microbes put waste to good use — and help the climate

Ethanol-producing bacteria endowed with extra enzymes convert unwanted gases into useful compounds.
LanzaTech Freedom Pines Facility, an industrial site with lots of pipes and containers.

At this pilot reactor, engineered bacteria convert industrial waste gases to industrially useful products. Credit: LanzaTech

Modified bacteria can turn waste gases, including carbon dioxide, into the valuable chemicals acetone and isopropanol — on a large scale1.

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Nature 603, 10 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00488-7

References

  1. Liew, F. E. et al. Nature Biotechnol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-01195-w (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Marcellin, E. et al. Green Chem. 18, 3020–3028 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

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