The people are looking for greener alternatives of chemical products and processes. In this regard the discovery of isoprene production by bacteria will help make tires greener.
A researcher at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs was granted a patent for a new process to make a key ingredient in synthetic rubber from bio-based rather than petroleum-based materials. Associate professor Jennifer Kuzma discovered how to produce isoprene from bacteria while doing doctoral research at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She shares the patent with Professor Ray Fall and Michele Nemecek-Marshall.
“Isoprene is a chemical compound commonly used in industry that we currently get from petroleum,” said Kuzma, chair of the science, technology and environmental policy area at the Humphrey Institute. “My colleagues and I discovered that bacteria produce isoprene and examined under what conditions they produce large amounts. This discovery contributes to finding an alternative and renewable form of isoprene.”
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