Imagine being able to precisely control specific tissues of a plant to enhance desired traits without affecting the plant’s overall function.
Thus a rubber tree could be manipulated to produce more natural latex. Trees grown for wood could be made with higher lignin content, making for stronger yet lighter-weight lumber. Crops could be altered so that only the leaves and certain other tissues had more wax, thus enhancing the plant’s drought tolerance, while its roots and other functions were unaffected.
By manipulating a plant’s metabolic pathways, two scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), Henrik Scheller and Dominique Loqué, have figured out a way to genetically rewire plants to allow for an exceptionally high level of control over the spatial pattern of gene expression, while at the same time boosting expression to very high levels. Now they have launched a startup company called Afingen to apply this technology for developing low-cost biofuels that could be cost-competitive with gasoline and corn ethanol.
“With this tool we seem to have found a way to control very specifically what tissue or cell type expresses whatever we want to express,” said Scheller. “It’s a new way that people haven’t thought about to increase metabolic pathways. It could be for making more cell wall, for increasing the stress tolerance response in a specific tissue. We think there are many different applications.”
Cost-competitive biofuels
Afingen was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant earlier this year for $1.72 million to engineer switchgrass plants that will contain 20 percent more fermentable sugar and 40 percent less lignin in selected structures. The grant was provided under a new SBIR program at DOE that combines an SBIR grant with an option to license a specific technology produced at a national laboratory or university through DOE-supported research.
“Techno-economic modeling done at (the Joint BioEnergy Institute, or JBEI) has shown that you would get a 23 percent reduction in the price of the biofuel with just a 20 percent reduction in lignin,” said Loqué. “If we could also increase the sugar content and make it easier to extract, that would reduce the price even further. But of course it also depends on the downstream efficiency.”
The Latest on: Artificial positive feedback loop
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Artificial positive feedback loop” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Artificial positive feedback loop
- Harnessing the Power of Generative AI: A Call to Action for Educatorson May 10, 2024 at 12:04 am
If educators steer the integration of AI with intention and purpose, it can reach its potential as an immense and versatile student success tool, writes faculty member Ripsimé K. Bledsoe. She offers ...
- Rocket bets big on AI for bespoke customer experienceson May 9, 2024 at 12:05 pm
Rocket CEO Varun Krishna sat down with HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins at The Gathering event to talk about the company’s AI strategy.
- 12 methods brands can use to strengthen B2C relationshipson May 8, 2024 at 8:30 am
Apply these strategies to ensure your company is sending the right message to gain consumer trust and loyalty.
- Climate: Why France and Europe are warming faster than averageon May 8, 2024 at 5:13 am
Countries experience climate change differently; the proximity of the Arctic zone and atmospheric circulation explain why France and Europe are already experiencing warming one degree higher than ...
- Artificial intelligence starts a new chapter for geodata usageon May 1, 2024 at 3:50 am
How can you leverage artificial intelligence technolgies in the aerial and satellite imaging sector? According to Toronto-based Ecopia AI, it takes ...
- The race for human-AI interaction usage data is on—and the stakes are highon April 24, 2024 at 2:26 pm
AI interaction data could help Meta pull ahead in the AI race. For the past year, OpenAI’s GPT-4 has been the dominant large language model. The LLM’s popularity dwarfs that of rival offerings from ...
- The race for human-AI interaction usage data is on—and the stakes are highon April 24, 2024 at 7:25 am
With the announcement of its new Llama 3 model, Meta is getting ready to put artificial intelligence ... and quality drives more usage, the positive feedback loop can turn a space into a near- ...
- To Get Ahead, Digital Health Should Look AHEADon April 19, 2024 at 7:05 am
The All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) program may have some flaws, but its fundamental focus could result in a much more welcoming environment for digital health solutions.
- AI Homogenization Is Shaping The Worldon March 4, 2024 at 10:40 pm
I’m a leader advancing Digital for Good and AI for positive change ... these systems create a feedback loop that narrows the scope of exposure to new choices. This self-reinforcing cycle ...
- The stock market has flipped from 'sell the rip' to 'buy the dip,' and that should help push the S&P 500 above a key resistance levelon May 18, 2023 at 1:12 pm
"This is creating a positive feedback loop, in the sense that capital invested ... cap tech stocks have positive leverage to the growing artificial intelligence opportunity, that regional banks ...
via Bing News