As the researchers reported Oct. 15 in the online journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, they’ve begun to identify which of these genes encode for enzymes that could significantly improve the production of cellulosic ethanol, a fuel made from inedible plant material

At the University of Florida they are studying termite guts. Termite guts are awesome collections of bacteria and micro-organisms that live only in the stomachs of termites and are passed on from generation to generation.

There’s a good overview of things in this article about bioprospecting termites, which is very readable. Gripping science journalism:

He worked at a rapid clip, pulling the insects’ heads and anuses in opposite directions with a microscopically violent yank

The production of biofuels is one of the main ends of the sythetic biology research program. The place of termites in the larger process of making useful life is not without complications, but maybe one day we will see parts of the genetic code for verious termite symbiotes stocked as open wetware. ]]> http://eightprime.net/2009/11/16/formiculture/feed/ 0