Not only does this new gas fermentation process remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, it also avoids using fossil fuels, which are typically needed to generate acetone and IPA.
Widely used as a disinfectant and antiseptic, IPA is the basis for one of the two World Health Organization-recommended sanitizer formulas, which are highly effective in killing the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Then, the researchers used synthetic biology tools to reprogram the bacterium to ferment CO2 to make acetone and IPA.
“Today, most of our commodity chemicals are derived exclusively from new fossil resources such as oil, natural gas or coal.
The study, “Carbon-negative, scaled-up production of acetone and isopropanol by gas fermentation,” was supported by the U.S.