Synthetic Ecology Symposium
The synthetic ecology theme of the University of Minnesota Biocatalysis Initiative was highlighted in an April 20th symposium featuring keynote addresses by Douglas Weibel of the University of Wisconsin and Allan Konopka of the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory...
Renewable Petroleum
U of M researchers close in on technology for making renewable "petroleum" using bacteria, sunlight and carbon dioxide. University of Minnesota researchers are a key step closer to making renewable petroleum fuels using bacteria, sunlight and carbon dioxide, a goal funded by a $2.2 million United...
Balancing the Body’s Bacterial Ecosystems
Bacteria living in the digestive tract – especially in the colon - can have a tremendous impact on human health and quality of life. Research has shown that a number of diseases – including diabetes and bowel dysfunctions such as colitis - are associated with changes in bacteria that live in the...
Protein Microcompartments Open New Possibilities in Biocatalytic Engineering
After observing protein compartments in certain bacteria that could isolate enzyme reactions, a team of University researchers worked to reproduce these reaction-containing microcompartments in a non-native host organism. Their goal was to create small bioreactors – nanobioreactors – within cells...
Sadowsky Named Director of the BioTechnology Institute
Michael Sadowsky, a recognized authority on using microorganisms to clean up the environment, has been appointed director of the BioTechnology Institute (BTI) effective September 1, 2010. Sadowsky, who is a professor in the University’s Department of Soil, Water and Climate and co-director of the...
BTI retreat is opportunity to meet and learn
An October 6th retreat was the opportunity for BioTechnology Institute (BTI) faculty and their lab members to learn more about each other and about the broad range of disciplines and applications encompassed by their collective research. It was also the first chance many had to hear from some of...
Kaznessis Discusses Synthetic Biology on Radio
Professor Yiannis Kaznessis explained the benefits and perils of synthetic biology during an interview for Access Minnesota. The interview is broadcast by nearly 40 radio stations. Kaznessis commented on the recent 'creation' a living cell from DNA that was synthesized in a lab by scientists in...
Wackett research team wins $2.2 million stimulus grant to explore production of hydrocarbons using bacteria
The U.S. Department of Energy has selected 37 projects for major federal stimulus funding through their Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) venue to pursue breakthrough energy research. BioTechnology Institute faculty member Larry Wackett is lead investigator for a University of Minnesota team which will receive $2.2 million in funding to explore production of liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels directly from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide using bacteria.
Coal from Algae Study Published
The results of a BioTechnology Institute (BTI) sponsored study on the potential for producing coal from algae were recently published online in ScienceDirect. The study focused on research conducted by Dr. Steve Heilmann at BTI utilizing hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), a wet process that...
Major funding awarded for research effort aimed at developing enzyme testing for food contaminants
The National Center for Food Protection and Defense, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence, recently awarded $1 million to a group of researchers headed by Larry Wackett, Distinguished McKnight University Professor with the BioTechnology Institute. The grant was made for the...
BTI-industry collaboration leads to development of field test to detect melamine in milk
(Source: College of Biological Sciences news release) Larry Wackett and Michael Sadowsky, members of the University of Minnesota’s BioTechnology Institute, developed an enzyme that is used in Bioo Scientific’s new MaxDiscovery™ Melamine Test kit, which simplifies the detection of melamine...
Bacteria can Produce Hydrocarbons
By Tim Montgomery January 1, 2010 Working with synthetic chemist Jack Richman in the lab of Distinguished McKnight University Professor Larry Wackett, graduate student Janice Frias has identified hydrocarbon synthesis in bacteria of the genus Arthrobacter - a key finding in the quest to produce...
Minnesota Team Wins Gold in iGEM 2009
A Minnesota team of seven undergraduate and four graduate students, guided by BTI Professor Yiannis Kaznessis (Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science), were awarded a Gold Medal at The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) for their work on SynBioSS, a...