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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Genetic Engineering of an Unconventional Yeast for Renewable Biofuel and Biochemical Production
Published on: September 20, 2016
Plant genetic engineering for biofuel production: towards affordable cellulosic ethanol
1Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA. stickle1@msu.edu
Abstract:
Biofuels provide a potential route to avoiding the global political instability and environmental issues that arise from reliance on petroleum. Currently, most biofuel is in the form of ethanol generated from starch or sugar, but this can meet only a limited fraction of global fuel requirements. Conversion of cellulosic biomass, which is both abundant and renewable, is a promising alternative. However, the cellulases and pretreatment processes involved are very expensive. Genetically engineering plants to produce cellulases and hemicellulases, and to reduce the need for pretreatment processes through lignin modification, are promising paths to solving this problem, together with other strategies, such as increasing plant polysaccharide content and overall biomass.
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