Kansas-based Edenspace Systems Corporation recently jumped on a Michigan State University (MSU) technology that makes it easier to turn plant fibers into biofuel.
Mariam Sticklen, MSU professor of crop and soil sciences, discovered a way to insert a gene from a bacterium in a cow's stomach so the fiber in corn leaves and stalks can be more easily converted into simple sugars. The sugars are then be converted into biofuels.
“We're excited to start commercializing this technology,” said Edenspace President, Bruce Ferguson in a press release. “We've been collaborating with Dr. Sticklen on this research for the past four years. This is a very productive extension of that work.”
Edenspace Systems Corp. is a plant biotechnology company that develops new crops for biofuels and environmental cleanup. Edenspace Systems will likely use this new technology to release biofuel corn varieties directly to growers and will investigate using the technology in other biofuelcrops such as sorghum, switchgrass and sugarcane.
Source: Michigan State University Newsroom
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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