Last month I sat in the Biomass-to-Biofuels Session at the AAAS annual meeting here in Boston.

There I saw a talk by one of my former PhD graduate committee members, Jim Liao (UCLA), who talked about his recent work focusing on reengineering the bacterium E. coli to produce butanol from simple sugars.

It’s quite astounding the possibilities that abound when you realize the potential that genetic engineering and synthetic biology provide. Engineering new pathways in microorganisms has come a long way and continues to make great strides in applications ranging from biofuels to medicine.

I’m glad that funding agencies (both private and public) are now taking a more active role in funding sustainable and renewable bioenergy research projects in this time of needed innovation.