Genome Mapper146;s Fuel Focus

Can microbes turn plants into ethanol? A celebrated scientist thinks so, especially as he will create a microbe to do precisely that

J Craig Venter, maverick biologist, wants to cure our addiction to oil. To do so, he proposes creating a designer microbe from scratch, then add genes culled from the sea to turn crops such as switch grass and cornstalks into ethanol. While he8217;s at it, he8217;d like to modify or devise microorganisms to produce a steady stream of hydrogen. Either could prompt a major shift in the economics of the energy industry. 8216;8216;This is one of those crusades that only works if it becomes profitable,8217;8217; said Venter.

Five years after antagonising government scientists while racing them to map the human genome, Venter is back, making the typically bold statements. Bearded from a three-year, Darwinesque yacht trip around the world, Venter also sports an extensive collection of genetic material scooped from the sea on his journey8212;the raw material for his alternative fuel project. He has launched a new company in Rockville, Maryland, called Synthetic Genomics Inc. It is a small firm with classic Venter ambition. Create life. Use it to make fuel.

A number of companies say they are ahead of Venter in the quest to use biotechnology to make energy, and contend they have more near-term and less complicated methods. Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems Inc. and a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist who has turned his investment focus to new energy, said of Venter8217;s new firm, 8216;8216;There are too many technical risks cascading together.8217;8217;

But Venter loves the challenge. He launched the new business with longtime collaborator, Hamilton Smith, who won a Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine and is a noted expert in DNA manipulation techniques. Perhaps Venter8217;s biggest personnel coup was the hiring earlier this month of Aristides Patrinos, who is an influential proponent of new energy technologies and a force behind President Bush8217;s recent focus on innovative fuel production in the State of the Union address.

Current production methods of ethanol rely on using corn kernels, which are converted into sugar, fermented to produce alcohol and then distilled into ethanol. Meeting the country8217;s energy needs using that method could eventually strain the food supply, particularly for animals that feed off corn.

Ethanol can be produced in other ways, though it is more difficult. One way is to use plant matter such as switch grass, cornstalks or corn husks and break it down into cellulose using enzymes. Until energy prices skyrocketed, that option was far more expensive than using oil, and the cost of building a plant was prohibitive. Technology is bringing the cost down, and biotech firms are lining up to advance the technology further. There are no commercial facilities online yet, though one in Spain could open this fall.

Patrinos thinks Synthetic Genomics can reduce costs even further by using either a soup of microbes or genetically designed ones to perform, in essentially one place, all the biological functions needed to break down the plant material and turn it into ethanol. 8216;8216;Anytime you add steps, you add costs,8217;8217; Patrinos said. 8216;8216;The ideal situation would essentially just be one big vat, where in one place you just stick the raw material and out the other end comes fuel that you could drive it on to the gas station.8217;8217;

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Venter8217;s scientists will need several years to sift through the millions of organisms collected on his world yacht trip, which ended last month. The hope is that something in that menagerie will provide the key to more efficient energy. 8216;8216;Sometimes you get a new idea that is better than the old idea,8217;8217; Venter said.

MICHAEL S. ROSENWALD