
Author: Babetta (Babs) Marrone, Laboratory Relationship Manager for BETO programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory
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For several years, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) scientists have been taking advantage of the molecular tools that naturally reside within microbial cells. Although microbes use these tools to carry out their metabolism and other life-sustaining processes, scientists can use these tools to produce fuel precursors and bioproduct building blocks. Today, researchers at LANL are further improving this process by adding a biosensor to the microbes that will use light to tell them how efficiently the product is made—thus enabling the researchers to identify cells with increased overall yield.

Smart microbial cell colonies "light up" when enzyme activity is high. Photo: Los Alamos National Laboratory