Thursday, July 29, 2010, 1:42pm PDT | Modified: July 29, 2010, 1:42 PM

LS9 to make fuel from sugar (San Francisco)

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Biofuel business LS9 Inc. published a paper in the journal Science detailing its discovery of genes that make important components of gasoline and other fuels directly from sugar.

“This discovery is the first description of the genes responsible for alkane biosynthesis and the first example of a single step conversion of sugar to fuel-grade alkanes by an engineered microorganism” the South San Francisco company said.

Trusty Escherichia coli, the ubiquitous bacterial equivalent of white lab rats, were modified to convert the sugars in a pilot scale experiment.

Scientists have sought these genes for 20 years, the company said, calling the work “a major scientific breakthrough.”

Read the full post in the San Francisco Business Times.