Transforming plant genes to produce cheap paper and fuel

For years, scientists have had difficulty finding ways to decompose green plants into ready-to-use biofuels. But now, the team at the University of British Columbia, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Michigan State University (USA) have found a new way to transform greenery into fuel and daily products, such as paper. .

An oak tree is under genetic research

This breakthrough method focuses on lignin - an important component in plant cell walls and acts as a glue that binds cells together. It is known that lignin helps plants stand up but is difficult to decompose, so when you want to process plants into paper or biofuel, you have to remove this chemical through a complex process, including burning heat it up to temperatures of up to 170 ^o C.

This process consumes a lot of chemicals and energy, causing unnecessary waste. Therefore, experts have changed the genetic characteristics (also called genetic modification) of lignin, making it easy to decompose without affecting its development. In this way, trees will be treated with less chemicals and energy, so they will produce less pollutants.

According to scientists, the new method promises to open up a scenario, that genetically modified plants will be grown as much as food crops. At that time, the process of making paper and biofuel will be less expensive, but sustainable and more environmentally friendly.