Enzyme survives blistering conditions to rapidly break down cellulose

A natural enzyme has been tweaked so that it can function in scalding hot ionic liquids rather than water. As a result the enzyme can breakdown cellulose into glucose 30 times faster than previously possible offering a quick way to turn biomass into valuable sugars for fuel or chemicals.¹

The challenges of generating energy from renewable resources are well known, but the chemical industry also relies on fossil fuels for feedstock. In an effort to wean humans off fossil fuels, chemists are increasingly focused on producing these platform chemicals from renewable resources. However, first-generation biofuels and bioplastics require food-grade sugars as feedstocks, setting up a ‘food versus fuel’ problem.