Probably nothing wrong with tweaking bacteria genes into producing petroleum products. It’s not like a release of these solar-converting bacteria spread across the world’s oceans would be a problem (I mean look at how well the Valdez spill cleaned up).
At the very least, it looks like they require a great deal of carbon input (CO2) which makes me wonder how much energy we’d have to put into the system to generate CO2 which ends up as oil. But if the little buggers are using solar to re-bond petroleum chains then it might be semi-efficient.
Could all be talk and PR for VCs, but Venter does have quite the track record. (From EcoGeek)
The new organisms, which Venter says should be multiplying in the lab in the next 18 months, would need high concentrations of CO2 (say, from the smokestack of a coal plant) to convert it to oil at maximum efficiencies. He can alter the octane of the fuel by altering the genes of the organism and, by selecting the best of thousands of molecules, he can “unnaturally select” the most efficient oil producers.
They’re calling it 4th generation biofuel, and you can expect that it will be only the first application of this fascinating and somewhat alarming new technology.
Wasn’t someone working on bacteria that would “eat” oil? Maybe we can combine them into a perpetual motion machine. I still say this all ends up in the grey goo end-of-world scenario.
[EDiT: Venter’s TED talk is here]
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I tried to comment on this early today.
It went into the twilight zone. If this one doesn’t I’ll comment again.
It didn’t, so I will try to comment again.
This is actually a good idea, intranets. Plants and many bactria- blue green algae- fix CO2 into carbohydrates using solar energy. These bugs just take it one step further.
Bacteria do this to the tune of a trillion metric tons at the bottom of the oceans. Much of the non-fossil oil is likely a product of complex archeobacterial action. Venter just combined two bacterial actions that normally aren’t related in his Frankenbug.
This is a good thing. A microorganism can be propagated, and could possibly halt or completely reverse the increase in atmospheric CO2 caused by modern man. Its use could halt global warming, save the Arctic, and stop the drive of the oil hegemons for global dominion.
Which, of course, will probably result in Exxon-Mobil or the Saudi Royals buying up all the American patents and trying to sit on them.
But hopefully it’s too late for that. The Chinese and Indians know the bug can be made. More importantly, many of the scientists that are responsible for making it are Chinese and Indian. It’s highly likely the bug will be in Asian labs very soon- if it isn’t there already.
It is scary. It should be. But 7 billion people starving in a poisoned world without energy is an even a more frightening thought.
I see extinction of the human race, and possibly the entire biosphere as the result of a post-industrial neofeudalism where only the rich aristocrats have access to technology. The rest of humanity just won’t stand for it. With an inexpensive source of renewable solar powered industrial energy, the human race, and the planet, buy breathing room. The planets and the stars are not that far away if we learn to use the power of the sun instead of fossil fuels.
No Hell below us
Above us, only sky