BROOKHAVEN SCIENTISTS TURN TOXIC BYPRODUCT INTO BIOFUEL

摘要

Scientists studying an enzyme that naturally produces alkanes-long carbon chain molecules that could be a direct replacement for the hydrocarbons in gasoline-have determined why the natural reaction typically stops after three to five cycles. This knowledge enabled them to devise a strategy to keep the reaction going. The biochemical research, undertaken at the United States Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, New York, and described recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has renewed interest in using enzymes in bacteria, algae or plants to produce biofuels.