Termites are a serious pest problem in the United States, but could these costly little bugs be the key to the next major breakthrough in green science? Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute are exploring the possibility that this may be so [1]. Termites eat the wood in trees, furniture, even homes. Their bodies cannot actually digest the wood that they eat without aid, however; that’s because wood is made of cellulose and other indigestible sugars. Cellulose is familiar to humans; it is fiber, essential for a healthy diet. But we cannot digest cellulose and termites can, because termites have symbiotic microbes which can break the cellulose in their guts down into digestible sugars [1].
The microbes inside termites which break down cellulose are currently under serious study. They may be used to produce sugars from cellulose, which forms the bulk of nearly all green plants on the planet; the estimated annual production of cellulose in 2006 alone was 1.5 *109 tons [2], an enormous amount. If this green technology could be harvested to produce ethanol, it could have an astounding impact. Currently, only the kernels in corn are used to produce the biofuel, but the microbes from termites’ intestines could allow the stalk and cob to also produce ethanol [1].
A number of obstacles remain in the quest to harvest microbes from termites to produce ethanol. Microbes from termites and their relatives in the guts of animals like cows are being studied extensively, but it will be much more difficult to apply this technology to mass produce ethanol in a factory than it is for termites to do the same for a few milligrams of cellulose [1]. According to Eddy Rubin, the director of Joint Genome Institute, the genes in the microbes which code for the enzymes that breakdown cellulose have to be isolated first [1]. Once this is done, enough of the enzymes may be mass produced in order to economically produce enough ethanol.
Sources:
[1] “Path to Alternative Fuel Found in Termite Guts” Livescience 3 Dec. 2007
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[2] “Cellulose” Wikipedia 3 Dec. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose>.
The microbes inside termites which break down cellulose are currently under serious study. They may be used to produce sugars from cellulose, which forms the bulk of nearly all green plants on the planet; the estimated annual production of cellulose in 2006 alone was 1.5 *109 tons [2], an enormous amount. If this green technology could be harvested to produce ethanol, it could have an astounding impact. Currently, only the kernels in corn are used to produce the biofuel, but the microbes from termites’ intestines could allow the stalk and cob to also produce ethanol [1].
A number of obstacles remain in the quest to harvest microbes from termites to produce ethanol. Microbes from termites and their relatives in the guts of animals like cows are being studied extensively, but it will be much more difficult to apply this technology to mass produce ethanol in a factory than it is for termites to do the same for a few milligrams of cellulose [1]. According to Eddy Rubin, the director of Joint Genome Institute, the genes in the microbes which code for the enzymes that breakdown cellulose have to be isolated first [1]. Once this is done, enough of the enzymes may be mass produced in order to economically produce enough ethanol.
Sources:
[1] “Path to Alternative Fuel Found in Termite Guts” Livescience 3 Dec. 2007
<>.
[2] “Cellulose” Wikipedia 3 Dec. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose>.
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