MIT Researchers Find Supplements to Increase Ethanol Production of Yeasts

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way to increase the ethanol production of yeast.

They spiked the yeasts' growth medium with potassium and an acidity-reducing compound helping them tolerate higher concentrations of the ethanol. With those "supplements," commonly underperforming yeast made more ethanol than did industrial strains genetically evolved for ethanol tolerance. The supplements also enabled lab yeast to tolerate higher doses of high-energy alcohols such as butanol.

The researchers also have promising initial results showing production increases from samples of mixed raw materials actually used in industrial fermentations and are looking to combine chemical supplementation and genetic modification.

The technical and economic effectiveness of the supplementation strategy will depend on its performance at large scale and in an industrial setting. With certain yeasts already high yields, the addition of these supplements could bring even more dramatic increases in the production of ethanol and perhaps second-generation biofuels such as butanol.