Brian Pfleger, a synthetic biologist and metabolic engineer from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, stepped into the #LabChat to answer questions about his work developing advanced biofuels. Moderating the #LabChat was John Greenler, director of education and outreach for the center.
#LabChat: The Future of Biofuels
Brian Pfleger, a synthetic biologist and metabolic engineer from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, stepped into the #LabChat to answer questions about his work developing advanced biofuels. Moderating the #LabChat was John Greenler, director of education and outreach for the center.
Storified by Energy Department ·
Thu, Sep 27 2012 14:48:51
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center is one of three Energy Department facilities not only trying to develop the next generation of biofuels, but rather, trying to develop a new generation of biofuels. They are completely rethinking the way plants store energy - and the processes to unlock this energy as advanced transportation fuel.
This is where Brian Pfleger comes in. He's the synthetic biology and metabolic engineer that answered questions during our #LabChat from @GLBioenergy on Wednesday, Sept. 26.
Let's start off by parsing his title. Is he a biologist or an engineer?
Your interests include synthetic biology. Can you what that means in simple terms? #LabChat
Ask 10 synbio rschers=9 different answers! In short, making complex living systems from nucleic acids & recombinant DNA tech #LabChat
He's both, really. Synthetic biology is a new(er) form of biological research that combines science and engineering. As a synthetic biologist, you might approach one these "complex living systems" with the eye of a biologist, chemist and engineer.
To fully delve into his role and research, let's look at a question from the #LabChat:
@GLBioenergy How did the summer's drought affect thinking about future biofuels? #LabChat
From Brian's point of view, this demonstrates the need to build certain safeguards against drought directly into a plant.
It emphasizes the need for engineering drought-resistant crops & ag water mgmt practices #LabChat
But, what exactly does it mean to "engineer" a crop?
In this case, it might mean "reprogramming" a plant to use water more efficiently by altering the DNA. A synthetic biologist might look at the DNA of a variation of the plant that does very well in arid climates. They'd then introduce those traits into another plant's DNA to make it more drought resistant.
Synthetic biologists can now do this with a lot of traits in plants, a few of which Brian mentioned in this #LabChat tweet:
Synbio used to devo energy-rich plants, improved traits (eg drought-resistance) faster enzymes, metabolic pthwys to adv biofuels #LabChat
Brian Pfleger and his colleagues at the BRCs have several missions, including:
1. Engineering plants like switchgrass to store more sugar (developing energy-rich plants)
1. Engineering plants like switchgrass to store more sugar (developing energy-rich plants)
In this Lab Breakthroughs video, Jay Keasling, Berkeley Lab's Joint BioEnergy Institute, one of the other Bioenergy Research Centers, says: "The U.S. has hundreds of millions of acres of marginal lands that wouldn't be adequate for producing foods, but would be adequate for growing crops like switchgrass and miscanthus. These plants are roughly half sugar, yet it's difficult to extract the sugar from these plants."
And, 2.) Creating the microbes that will help turn those sugars into biofuels (faster enzymes, metabolic pathways to advanced biofuels).
This is a photo of an E.coli strain.
BRC researchers have had quite a bit of success use E.coli to breakdown cellulosic biomass (i.e. - lignin, switchgrass, miscanthus, agricultural waste, etc.) into sugars that are then as a way to turn switchgrass into advanced biofuel.
Genomic Science Program Systems Biology for Energy and EnvironmentThe next step at the Department of Energy to use data and resources from the Human Genome Project to accelerate understanding of dynamic ...
The Bioenergy Research Centers are multidisciplinary, collaborative facilities that involve a broad range of specialists and equipment, including modeling and simulations:
What modeling/simulation tools do you use in biofuel R&D? Is there open source development? #LabChat
Many sim techs. In my lab we use genome-scale metabolic models, kinetic models of cell behavior & technoecon process models #LabChat
As Tim Donohue mentioned, it takes all these people to eventually commercialize advanced biofuels for the biofuels mission.
These processes are neither the beginning nor end of the road to the future of biofuel. But we understand their role better thanks to Brian Pfleger and John Greenler joining us for our latest #LabChat.
