A ‘naturally selected’ strain of yeast that promises to put an end to the biofuel industry’s food-versus-fuel dilemma by turning plant-based waste into ethanol — and a high-protein food by-product — is moving out of the laboratory and towards commercialisation following breakthrough developments at Australian microbiology company Microbiogen.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast has already proved highly adapted to the industrial process of converting food feedstocks, including cornstarch and cane sugar, into ethanol — underpinning production of some 20 billion gallons (75.7
