Ocean Microbes Produce Biofuel
19 Jul 2014
MIT is making progress researching common bacterium with the potential to revolutionize the biofuels industry.
A microorganism called Prochlorococcus, the most abundant photosynthetic organism on Earth, has been shown to hold and release small, oil-bound sacs of material into the open ocean.
Though the researchers have no idea why the bacterium might do this, from the perspective of survival, they aren’t looking this gift-horse in the mouth; what they have found is an organism that is seemingly tailor-made for use on the industrial scale.