Upcycling CO2 into energy-rich long-chain compounds via electrochemical and metabolic engineering

Researchers at two Chinese universities have developed a hybrid electro-biosystem, coupling spatially separate CO2 electrolysis with yeast fermentation, which efficiently converted CO2 to glucose with a high yield. Upcycling of carbon dioxide into value-added products represents a substantially untapped opportunity to tackle environmental issues and achieve a circular economy. Compared with easily available C1/C2 products, nevertheless, efficient and sustainable synthesis of energy-rich long-chain compounds from CO2 still remains a grand challenge. The researchers employed a nanostructured copper catalyst that stably catalysed pure acetic acid production with a solid-electrolyte reactor. They then genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce glucose in vitro from electro-generated acetic acid by deleting all defined hexokinase genes and overexpression of heterologous glucose-1-phosphatase. They also showed that that the proposed platform can be easily extended to produce other products like fatty acids using CO2 as the carbon source. These results illuminate the tantalizing possibility of a renewable-electricity-driven manufacturing industry.



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