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" A group of scientists at Penn State University has plumbed the stomach of the Asian long-horned beetle for clues to making ethanol from wood. The bug has been ravaging trees in North America since its accidental import from China in the mid-1990s. But instead of seeing a relentless pest, postdoctoral fellow Scott Geib sees a model for separating useful cellulose from wood, a vital first step in creating ethanol. Trees protect themselves from invaders with a natural polymer called lignin, which is chemically bonded to the cellulose. Current methods of processing lignin, such as boiling or bathing wood in acid, cost too much, so researchers are keen to find natural alternatives. The larvae of long-horned beetles can eat the hardwood of healthy trees, separating the lignin to process the cellulose and freeing other microorganisms in their bellies to then convert the material into energy. &amp;quot;The stomach of the insect is a microcosm of what we want bio\u00ADreactors to do,&amp;quot; Geib says. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a3847/4298360/>