Micrograph

August 21, 2012

Micrograph shows a group of Ralstonia eutropha bacteria in culture. In their natural form, as seen here, the microbes convert carbon in their surrounding into a kind of bioplastic — seen as the light-colored dots inside their membranes. But a biologically engineered version developed at MIT instead produces isobutanol fuel, which is then expelled from the cells into the surrounding medium, where it can easily be collected. Image courtesy of Christopher Brigham