News and Opinion

From farm to fuel

Goats and sheep could make biomass processing cheaper and more efficient
Published in Microbiology
Go to the profile of Heidi Burdett
Heidi Burdett
Editor, Nature Microbiology
From farm to fuel
Like

Share this post

Choose a social network to share with, or copy the URL to share elsewhere

Share with...

...or copy the link

This is a representation of how your post may appear on social media. The actual post will vary between social networks

Garden overgrown with brambles and weeds? Get the goats in and it’ll be cleared in no time thanks to their astonishing ability to digest almost everything.

Now, by harnessing the power of their indestructible microbiome, biomass processing may become cheaper and more efficient. Published in Science this week and covered by a number of news channels, Solomon and colleagues isolated fungi from the guts of sheep and goats and found they produce a huge range of biomass-degrading enzymes – far more than the organisms typically used by the biofuel industry. Their enzymatic profile was also highly responsive to changes in substrate, making the degradation process more efficient and opening up opportunities for the biomass industry to utilise other base materials.

Go to the profile of Heidi Burdett
Heidi Burdett
Editor, Nature Microbiology

Please sign in or register for FREE

If you are a registered user on Research Communities by Springer Nature, please sign in

Sign In Register
Go to the profile of Michael Chao
Michael Chao
over 8 years ago
They actually brought in goats to Boston a couple years back to help clear out a huge patch of poison ivy in a park they were redeveloping. Human workers just couldn't access the site for its sheer size and the logistical nightmare of trying to weed in thick protective gear in the middle of summer. So they just trucked in a few goats from a nearby farm, fenced them into the plot for a few weeks and presto, no more poison ivy (and lots of natural fertilizer on the ground to boot). I think the totally cost was a couple of grand. Now, the question is which microbe is responsible for destroying poison ivy's auto-inflammatory inducing compounds...

Cookies

We use cookies to ensure the functionality of our website, to personalize content and advertising, to provide social media features, and to analyze our traffic. If you allow us to do so, we also inform our social media, advertising and analysis partners about your use of our website. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to deny or allow. Please note that based on your settings not all functionalities of the site are available.

Further information can be found in our privacy policy.

Cookie Control

Customise your preferences for any tracking technology

The following allows you to customize your consent preferences for any tracking technology used to help us achieve the features and activities described below. To learn more about how these trackers help us and how they work, refer to the cookie policy. You may review and change your preferences at any time.

See the full cookie policy See the full privacy policy
More information

These trackers are used for activities that are strictly necessary to operate or deliver the service you requested from us and, therefore, do not require you to consent.

More information

These trackers help us to deliver personalized marketing content and to operate, serve and track ads.

More information

These trackers help us to deliver personalized marketing content to you based on your behaviour and to operate, serve and track social advertising.

More information

These trackers help us to measure traffic and analyze your behaviour with the goal of improving our service.

More information

These trackers help us to provide a personalized user experience by improving the quality of your preference management options, and by enabling the interaction with external networks and platforms.