South Korean researchers have successfully produced gasoline
from glucose using genetically modified microbes.
The team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology (KAIST) led by Professor Lee Sang-yeop says it developed colon
bacteria which break down glucose to produce gasoline.
The team explained regular cells consume glucose and produce
fatty acid in order to create cell membranes or cell walls, but the
metabolically-engineered microbes disintegrate fatty acids into gasoline and
discharge them from the body.