Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have successfully engineered a strain of E.coli that is able to survive on switchgrass and synthesize gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. This is the first time that a microbe has been found to create jet fuel and it is an amazing step forward in a number of ways. E.coli do not normally grow on switchgrass, and this new strains ability brings together all kinds of possibilities since switchgrass is widely regarded as the future of bio fuels. At the same time, these bacteria are able to create the fuel without the help of additive enzymes, which made the process much more expensive. The new process can cut cost of production almost in half.
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