Bioengineering the Future
with Shell Oil
Transport Fuels
75% of liquid fuels are used for transport. 70% of that in cars.
Retail fuel is 95% fossil alkanes and 5% from a biological source.
Wood Image
By 2020, global demand for bio-derived fuels will be 500B litres.
The Exeter-Shell Projects
Bacterial Population Sampling
for HC Production
High-throughput
Screen Development
Development of High-throughput
Mutant Analysis and Wax Imaging
Alkane Synthesis in
Mycobacterium
Alkane Production & Secretion
in Vibrio furnissii
Forced Evolution
& Mutagenesis for
Increased FA
Molecular & HC Analysis
Of Isolated Mutants
Rhodosporidium toruloides
Genome Analysis
Gene & Pathway
Discovery
Molecular
Bioinformatics
Molecular Control of HC
Production & Secretion
in Botryococcus braunii
B. Braunii Genome
Evolution
Genes for Alkane Production in
Higher Plants
B. braunii-Bacterial
Interactions
Alkane Synthesis in
Desulfovibrio
Alkane Synthesis in
cyanobacteria
Inducible Wax Synthesis
In Salt Cress
HC Analysis
Molecular Control of Hydrocarbon Synthesis &
Secretion in Bacteria, Yeast and Algae
for Advanced Biofuel Production
Metabolism &
Enzymes
FA Catabolism in
cyanobacteria
HC Synthesis Screen in
Oleaginous Yeasts
Botryococcus braunii Culture Systems
Productivity & HC Extraction
Culture Systems
& DSP
Synthetic Biology
Variable Chain Length & Branched HC
in Fermentative Microbes
Synthetic Ecology
for Optimum Algal Growth
C-Flux Engineering
In Yeast
Synthetic Biology
ILV
ilvE
Keto
acid
bkdAA
&
bkdAB
MDHLA
bkdB
acoL
Engineer the production of
gasoline, jet-fuel, diesel and
lubricant oil in E. coli that
are identical to fossil fuels.
Acetyl
CoA
acc
A to
acc
D
fabH
Fatty
acylACP
Keto
acyl
CoA
Malonyl
-ACP
fabHB
tesA
luxD
Branched
fatty
acyl-ACP
luxD
FFA
FATB
1
Biological Alkanes require
no alteration of current
engine technologies.
luxC & luxE
F-al
NpAD
Alkanes
&
alkenes
FATB
1
“Third Generation” Biofuels from Algae
Renewable.
Sustainable.
Productive.
CO2 Mitigation.
Experimental.
Botryococcus braunii Oils.
Synthesises and secretes very long chain hydrocarbons.
Major fossil component of oil wells.
Botryococcus braunii Research.
Genome sequencing and
bioinformatics to elucidate oil
biosynthetic pathways &
interactions with symbiotic
bacteria.
Quantify B. braunii physiology
for Life Cycle Analysis.
Model and test oil production in
industrial culture conditions.