Transgenic insects as Renewable Energy Sources

A Nobel laureate gives a unique solution to the energy crisis that will hit the world sooner or
later. Steven Chu, Nobel Prize winner in physics in 1997 states that every home page we
save natural energy sources. In fact, this energy source is environmentally friendly and can
be cultivated in each household. What is it? Energy source was none other than termites.

Natural process allowing termites become factories producing plants similar material called
cellulose. This material can be made into ethanol, a type of fuel is much cheaper,
environmentally friendly and of course renewable.

Of course, hear the word termite, our thoughts drifted to the disadvantage of annoying
insects. But the mind of a Chu did not stop there. He even thought to how to create a kind
of insect is deliberately engineered so that it can produce ethanol more material. Means
there will be an artificial termite selolusa capable of converting enough for the source of
human energy.

Mutant

Ethanol is becoming a hot issue among scientists in the energy sector today. This material is
believed to be a substitute for gasoline or petrol. But there is one problem that prop. Of the
many studies that have been done, it takes more energy to extract ethanol from sources like
corn than the energy it produces. Of course this loss, not profit.

Problem is used as "homework" by Chu et al. ? We begin to describe the micro-organisms in

the stomach termites. Once a gene has been identified, scientists can develop what is called
a chemical understanding of what really happened in selolusa,? Chu said as reported by ABC
News Online recently.

Selolusa formed from the hard walls of plant cells, so that it can represent all the plant
material, both starting in the mountains until the garbage. Selolusa can crushed or
fermented by the microbes that produce various products such as hydrogen and methanol.
The process was not always smooth sailing. Sometimes microbes do not produce enough
hydrogen or methanol for human use. This is what you want to change by Chu and his team.

"If we see how natural causes degradation in biological materials such as selolusa, then we
will find that the micro-organismelah the most important in making ethanol and methane,"
said Chu. The problem is these microbes produce minimal amounts than necessary. So the
answer is a micro-organism aka artificial mutants. Chu and his team wanted to create an
organism that is much more efficient in producing selolusa, more than the amount they
need to simply survive.
Manufacture of micro-organisms can be done with this mutant mating choices. This step is
similar to that done in the form horse racing seeds or seeds of hybrid corn. Even more
precise to say that the transgenic approach, namely insert special code into the DNA of
microbes in question.

Transgenic

This step starts from putting it in the micro-organism genome set of genes that could make
it perform chemical commands as we want. This is called synthetic biology. Of course this
procedure requires special attention because not every micro-organism will be able to easily
react with it. According to Chu, micro-organisms are sometimes felt uncomfortable with the
presence of new genes in her body, because it produces a behavior or trait that they do not
want before.

Aka transgenic genetic engineering procedures as did Chu has provoked an outcry and
criticism. Products such as transgenic plants and seeds have been mired in controversy
antarilmuwan with environmentalists. Chu quite familiar with this fact. Moreover, by Chu is
the genetic engineering of micro-organisms that can be easily insects to spread
uncontrollably. Not impossible insects can present a mutant monster which Franskenstein
effect actually attacking humans made their creators. Chu claimed that the microbes that
can be programmed properly. He can make the relevant insects die when to run away.