The BioEnergy Science Center reaches 500th publication
Among the reported discoveries toward inexpensive and
reliable production of cellulosic ethanol are new approaches for engineering
non-food crops for biofuel production, reengineering of microbes to produce
advanced biofuels such as “green” precursors from biomass, and the development
of methods to grow non-food biofuel crops on marginal lands so as not to
compete with food production.
As one of three
centers in the Department of Energy’s Biological and Environmental Research
(BER) Program, BESC has made substantial progress toward understanding,
manipulating and managing plant cell walls' resistance to being broken down for
fuel production, called recalcitrance .
Many Populus and switchgrass genes that affect plant cell wall recalcitrance
can now be modified and many of these genetic changes tested have resulted in
improved deconstruction potential.
“Publication in the scientific literature is an important
measure of success for this project and for our sponsors,” said BESC Director Paul
Gilna. “This body of work is a reflection of both our team’s growing impact on the
field of biofuels research and of the project’s increasing credibility within
the scientific community.”
The 500th article is one in a collection of
articles emphasizing BESC collaborative work in a book, part of the Wiley
Series in Renewable Resources, titled ‘Aqueous Pretreatment of Plant Biomass
for Biological and Chemical Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals.’ BESC researcher
Dr. Charles Wyman at the University of California-Riverside is the book’s
editor.
The book's 23 chapters from top researchers in the biofuel
field include nine chapters by 13 current or former members of BESC.
BESC work has been featured in significant scientific
journals including Nature, Science, Nature Biotechnology, PNAS and Energy and
Environmental Science. The collection of
BESC publications has been cited more than 3000 times in other scientific
publications. This extensive body of
work has also contributed to the success of 117 invention disclosures and 36
patent applications for BESC.
BESC is an 18-partner consortium consisting of more than 300
members from university, industrial and private foundation associates studying
ways to generate biofuels. More than 150
of BESC’s publications have integrated collaborations among the eighteen
partners of BESC, and more than 160 have included collaborators outside the center.
In the next five years, BESC researchers will focus on
bringing new methods and discoveries to maturity, developing new lines of
research, and accelerating the transformation of scientific breakthroughs into
new technologies that can transition to the marketplace.
Visit the BESC website at bioenergycenter.org for a comprehensive
listing of all publications with links to the articles where available and a
searchable database of available intellectual property.
ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the
Department of Energy's Office of Science. DOE's Office of Science is the single
largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United
States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our
time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
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