Bio Fuels, using stock such as corn and sugar as the feed for the production of ethanol fuel, have been a big debate over the last year as the public has seen the effects of large scale ethanol production on supplies and pricing in commodity markets. However many of us may not know that behind the scenes there is real research going on to solve this problem and provide the world with renewable feed stock for bio fuel.
Mendel has discovered the functions of genetic switches that control many important aspects of plant growth, metabolism and stress responses. By modifying when and where these key genes are expressed within crops plants, it is possible to obtain significant improvements in plant productivity. Additionally, in many cases, knowledge of gene function enables the identification of natural or synthetic chemicals that can alter plant performance in useful ways.
At this years Going Green Conference in SF we spoke to Neal Gutterman of Mendel Biotechnology of Hayward, CA about his company’s efforts to develop feed stock for bio fuel production. Check out the conversation in the video below.
Neal Gutterman – Mendel Biotechnology – Going Green 2008