Termites to produce ethanol biofuel

Variety of ways to produce alternative energy from biofuels have been done by scientists and researchers to find the most convenient, safe, and inexpensive ways. They used materials or bacteria or even a termite though to produce biofuels. Recently, researchers at Purdue University in Indiana, U.S., has conducted research on the termites digestive system that can be harnessed to produce ethanol biofuel.

The ability of all types of organisms to digest the food into very small particles or molecules with the help of enzymes, through the secretion process of the organism or by the symbionts present inside its guts like in the termites guts. In addition to produces enzymes for wood digestion, the symbionts bacteria inside the termite guts also produces enzymes that can breakdown the cell walls of the wood cells to produces biofuel.

Ethanol can be produced through a sugar fermentation process . The host termite and its symbionts will release three enzymes on three different parts of the biomass that work complementary to give access to make ethanol biofuel. The researchers isolated the genes that produce enzymes in termites digestive systems and then inserted into a virus that has been inoculated into caterpillars that can produce enzymes.

The new finding of make biofuel using termites help further clarifying that something detrimental such as termites can work contrary to something useful. Maybe in the future we can think of anything detrimental to convert it into a friend for the benefit and goodness to us.