Industrial Biotechnology Companies excel in pollution prevention.

Press Release Summary:



BIO congratulated biotechnology companies and members of BIO who received Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. Codexis of Redwood City, CA, in collaboration with Merck, developed greener method of producing sitagliptin, while LS9 engineered microorganism that metabolizes fatty acids and converts them to biofuel and renewable chemicals. Dr. James Liao, board member of Easel Biotechnologies, genetically enhanced microbe that ferments glucose into isobutanol and other higher alcohols.



Original Press Release:



Industrial Biotechnology Companies Excel in Pollution Prevention and Receive Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards



Advanced industrial biotechnology processes recognized for ability to reduce pollutants including greenhouse gases

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Industrial biotechnology is increasing the efficiency of manufacturing chemicals and fuels, reducing emissions of pollutants, including greenhouse gases, and creating opportunities for economic growth and new products. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today congratulated the industrial biotechnology companies and members of BIO who received Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards.

Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO's Industrial & Environmental Section, said, "Industrial biotechnology is the most promising path to efficient, clean production of fuels and chemicals. It is already being used to produce everyday products more efficiently, to replace fossil resources with renewable ones, and to clean the environment. These achievements show that more widespread adoption of industrial biotechnology processes can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions now and establish a new path for sustainable economic growth. BIO congratulates our members who have been recognized through the Presidential Green Chemistry Awards for their pioneering advances in applying industrial biotech to green chemistry."

Winners of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards include:

Codexis of Redwood City, Calif., in collaboration with New Jersey-based Merck developed a more efficient, greener method of producing sitagliptin, the active ingredient in a treatment for Type II diabetes. Through directed evolution, Codexis developed a transaminase enzyme that acts as an efficient biocatalyst for transforming ketone into sitagliptin. This new bioprocess replaces a process that relied on a costly rhodium metal catalyst. It increases yield of the drug by 10 percent while reducing waste by 19 percent and it holds promise for efficient production of other pharmaceutical compounds.

LS9 engineered a microorganism that not only efficiently metabolizes fatty acids, but also converts them to specific biofuel and renewable chemicals. Microbes can produce alkanes for diesel, jet fuel and green gasoline; alcohols for surfactants; esters for biodiesel and chemical intermediates; olefins for lubricants and polymers; aldehydes for insulation and resins; and fatty acids for soaps and chemical ingredients. The diesel produced by LS9 can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent compared to petroleum diesel and eliminate benzene, sulfur, and heavy metals often found in petroleum.

Dr. James Liao, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, board member of Easel Biotechnologies, and a founder of Gevo, Inc. genetically enhanced a microbe that ferments glucose into isobutanol and other higher alcohols at the highest rates of efficiency achievable, exceeding those of algae strains. His research team has also transferred this productive ability to a photosynthetic microorganism, Synechococcus elongatus, to produce isobutanol and isobutyraldehyde and other possible chemicals directly from CO2 and sunlight.

These companies and many other industrial biotechnology companies will be discussing their technologies at the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing. The annual World Congress - co-organized by BIO, BIOTECanada, and the U.S. Department of Energy - is the original and only conference dedicated solely to industrial biotechnology and the most recent advancements in the field. Visit www.bio.org/worldcongress.

About BIO

BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world's largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.

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