Extreme environment biology research may help solve lignocellulosic ethanol puzzle

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Biochemist Joanne Volponi prepares samples of cellulase enzymes for activity assaying in a high-throughput fluid-handling robotic system. Sandia is demonstrating various computational tools and enzyme engineering methods that can help process cellulo ...
Biochemist Joanne Volponi prepares samples of cellulase enzymes for activity assaying in a high-throughput, fluid-handling robotic system. Sandia is demonstrating various computational tools and enzyme engineering methods that can help process cellulosic biomass. (Photo by Randy Wong)

Buried beneath a sulfurous cauldron in European seas lies a class of microorganisms known as “extremophiles,” so named because of the extreme environmental conditions in which they live and thrive. Almost as radical, perhaps, is the idea that these organisms and their associated enzymes could somehow unlock the key to a new transportation economy based on a renewable biofuel, lignocellulosic ethanol.


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