COLUMNS
HEALTH
Let’s Get Physical … Fitness column examines the myths about orthopedic support. » PAGE 6
Forget the beer gut—researchers at UCSF are raising awareness of a new concern: ‘Sugar Belly.’ » PAGE 5
Are your shoes an arch enemy?
The bitter–sweet dangers of dessert
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SynapseNewspaper
The UCSF Student
synapse.ucsf.edu | Thursday, January 8, 2015 | Volume 59, Number 6
Synapse Speaks to Startups: Scientists engineer microbes to make simple chemicals
Mark Wooding/UCSF News & Media Services The first floor of newly constructed Mission Hall will host several student services as the opening of Mission Bay’s new medical center approaches.
UCSF celebrates grand opening of Student Services at Mission Bay Dear Students:
Yarrow Madrona Industrial Microbes cofounders Elizabeth Clarke and Noah Helman spend time in the lab, where they are working to turn waste gasses into useful products.
By Yarrow Madrona Staff Writer In a lab in Emeryville not much bigger than a garage, three scientists are trying to show there is a better way to make chemicals used in everyday items. If they’re right, they’ll be able to prevent millions of pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere every year while lowering the cost of producing a range of goods from compost bags to yoga pants. Elizabeth Clarke, Derek Greenfield and Noah Helman are the founders of Industrial Microbes. They are developing a novel method of using microbes to create chemicals with broad industrial applications, a method they anticipate will be cheaper and produce a smaller carbon footprint than current practices. Their goal is to develop an organism that can use carbon dioxide and methane as starting materials to make industrial chemicals such as malic and succinic acid. These are, in turn, used for making biopolymers such as biodegradable plastics and synthetic fibers. “Several other companies are going after succinic acid using sugar as a raw material.
We are really excited about accessing cheaper carbon,” she said. “Methane is one-fourth of the price of sugar, and CO2 is even cheaper than that.” Three of the four carbons in malic acid will come from methane with the other coming from CO2. Clarke said, “We did a life-cycle analysis, comparing the standard petroleum route to malic acid with our proposed pathway. The
“Our process of making malic acid is a lot greener than the traditional route.”
petroleum pathway is dirty and emits a lot of CO2. Our process of making malic acid is a lot greener than the traditional route.” This aspect was particularly attractive to the CCEMC (Climate Change and Emissions Management Corp.), a Canadian-based nonprofit with the goal of reducing CO2 emissions in Alberta. The CCEMC gave Industrial Microbes their first startup money to develop a metabolic pathway that consumes CO2. The biosynthesis of malic acid from sugar has been previously demonstrated. In contrast, the efficient oxidation of
methane has proven difficult to implement. Their goal is to genetically engineer industrial strains to oxidize methane using enzymes and pathways derived from methanotrophs, organisms that already use methane as an energy source. “Existing companies are trying to engineer methane-consuming organisms to make various products because of the low price (of using methane). They are going after known methanotrophs,” said Clarke. “What’s tricky about these organisms is that they are not well-characterized organisms and they are hard to engineer. We are going after industrially proven host strains that are well studied.” “The core lesson we took from working at LS9 and watching companies like Amyris and Solazyme is that when you have an expensive raw material and a lowvalue product such as a fuel, your process must be close to 100 percent efficient. That takes a lot of time and money. You need to get close to the theoretical maximum efficiency because your raw material is so expensive. We have done back-of-theenvelope calculations and found that we only need to reach a low efficiency to make
MICROBES » PAGE 6
I am pleased to announce the opening of Student Services at Mission Bay. Starting Jan. 5, 2015, we will provide the following services on the first floor of Mission Hall: Financial Aid: Watkins Loan repayment, budget adjustments, disbursements, advising, financial aid documents Graduate Division (select services to be located at Mission Hall instead of William J. Rutter Center): Advancement to candidacy, exceptional approvals, filing fees Registrar: Transcripts, diplomas, petitions, fee payments, California residence for tuition purposes Student Life: Student government, student organizations, student involvement and programs, learning and support services Please join us on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., at an open house to celebrate our new Student Services center with staff, faculty, and your fellow students. Refreshments will be served. The Registrar, Financial Aid and Student Life will continue to offer the same services at Parnassus in Millberry Union. All other Graduate Division business will continue to be conducted in the third floor suite of the William J. Rutter Center at Mission Bay. Stop by and see our beautiful new space! Sincerely, Elizabeth Watkins, Ph.D.
Dean, Graduate Division Vice Chancellor, Student Academic Affairs Professor, History of Health Sciences