Much of the organic material in the waste stream of food processing plants consists of simple sugars and starches. This represents a waste of a valuable resource. A process that could convert these simple sugars into a valuable feedstock or commodity would have immediate application. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University...

Biofuel production from photoautotrophic biomass is a promising energy solution; also attractive is the carbon-neutral nature of resulting biofuels made with CO2 fixation. Strains of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. are promising candidates, with high biomass yield and robustness over a wide range of temperatures, salinity, and pH. For highest...

Halogenated organic compounds (organohalides) have often been released into the soil and groundwater. These compounds may be carcinogenic and are hazardous to the natural environment. A significant need exists therefore for techniques to efficiently decontaminate these types of toxic compounds. Researchers at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona...

Obesity is epidemic in the United States, and it is increasingly a problem in much of the developed world. The health care costs associated with obesity and obesity-related diseases are a significant and increasing fraction of total healthcare spending. Currently, the most effective means to reverse obesity is surgical intervention: gastric bypass...

Hydrogen is a potentially significant contributor to global energy sustainability if it is produced from renewable, non-fossil fuel resources such as biomass and sunlight. The use of Microbial Electrolytic Cells (MEC) has become an attractive alternative source for biological H2 production. MEC’s have many advantages over other biohydrogen processes,...

With the advent demand for fuel cell technologies, there exists a need for improved methods of mass production of the key ingredients in biofuel cells, such as biomass or photosynthetic bacteria. Researchers at Arizona State University have developed a highly configurable, modular system for scale-up studies of photosynthetic microorganisms. This...

Age-related macular degeneration is the most frequent cause of blindness in the elderly. The disease is characterized by progressive apoptosis of retinal pigment epithelia (RPE) cells, inflammation, changes in the extracellular matrix and neovascularization of the tissue. Present research suggests that the disease may ultimately result from accumulation...

Biological fuel cells (BFCs) are being widely researched these days as a means to produce combustion-less electrical energy from organic compounds present in waste water. BFCs are capable of oxidizing many complex and simple organic compounds. BFCs open up the possibility of producing electrical energy directly from biomass feed stocks that are...

Two challenges facing the world today include the ongoing pollution of the environment with carbon dioxide which contributes to global warming and the increasing consumption of the world’s natural energy resources of fossil fuels. A problematic cycle exists where the increase in fossil fuel consumption correlates with an increase in carbon dioxide...

The proper treatment of wastewater is becoming more and more important as the number of toxic and biologically recalcitrant organic compounds continues to increase. Current treatment systems are sequentially coupled, in that they involve a two-step process of advanced oxidation followed by biodegradation. In the ideal case of sequential coupling,...