Cellulase for commodity products from cellulosic biomass
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Updated: Oct 19, 2026

A High Throughput Screen for Biomining Cellulase Activity from Metagenomic Libraries
Published on: February 1, 2011
1National Renewable Energy Laboratory 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401, USA. Michael_Himmel@nrel.gov.
Abstract:
A vital objective for second millennium biotechnology will be the enzymatic conversion of renewable cellulosic biomass to inexpensive fermentable sugars; new and more efficient fermentation processes will convert this biological 'currency' to a variety of commodity products. Although early strides will be made using process development and engineering disciplines, mid-term and longer advances must rely heavily on insight gained through protein and metabolic engineering technologies. These challenging goals can be met most effectively by the full integration of academic, federal, and industrial efforts in teams that develop and apply new fundamental knowledge to key cost drivers.
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