Researchers discover algae that convert fats into hydrocarbons
Researchers in France have stumbled across a mystery enzyme in algae which, when subjected to blue light, was able to convert fats to hydrocarbons. The team found protein solutions made up from the algae containing flavin adenine dinucleotide enabled the creation of hydrocarbons and opened up the possibility of a simple and cost-effective method of producing biofuels using algae and light. The team behind the research believe the enzyme can be modified to produce very different chemical reactions.
In France, researchers discovered that certain species of algae can convert fats directly to hydrocarbons that can come in handy for biofuel production. Using sunlight as an input and filtering the contents of algae to leave them with protein solutions with some cell contents, they tested them for how well they converted to fats. They found a set of 10 proteins that existed in all three fractions that were able to convert fats, but one of them was a mystery protein. Once they identified that mystery protein’s gene, they tweaked it and transferred it to bacteria where it converted fats to hydrocarbons. Interestingly, the reaction needed blue light to work and when they switched it to red light, the conversion process stopped. The discovery can lead to many applications that rely on algae fat conversion to hydrocarbons, like biofuel production.