A press release from Syracuse University (United States) reports that its researchers (from the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science,LCS) can use nanobiotechnology to accelerate photosynthetic growth of algae. Some species of algae are "oleagenic" (oil producing), and this ability makes these microorganisms, a "new generation biodiesel feedstock". Increasing productivity of algae for biodiesel processing is an important key for commercial production using this feedstock. The "nanobiotechnology method" reported by the Syracuse University researchers can be a step toward increasing algal productivity for biodiesel production. According to the Syracuse University website, the researchers utilized nanoparticles "that selectively scatter blue light, promoting algae metabolism. When the optimal combination of light and confined nanoparticle suspension configuration was used, the team was able to achieve growth enhancement of an algae sample of greater than 30 percent as compared to a control". The experiments are still at the lab scale, but it has promising commercial applications. The experiment is described as follows: A ‘miniature bioreactor that consisted of a petri dish of a strain of green algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) on top of another dish containing a suspension of silver nanoparticles that served to backscatter blue light into the algae culture. Through model-guided experimentation, the team discovered that by varying the concentration and size of the nanoparticle solution they could manipulate the intensity and frequency of the light source, thereby achieving an optimal wavelength for algal growth". The complete results are published in the 2010 August 12 issue of Nature magazine.

Scientists from the University of Florida (UF, United States) report that enzymes found in termite salivary tissues may be able to accomplish the degradation of lignin in lignocellulosic biomass at room temperature. Lignin is the tough molecular wrapping around the cellulose and hemicellulosic  fibers in plant biomass. In the production of "cellulose-ethanol" from "second-generation" lignocellulosic feedstocks, lignin is usually removed by extreme thermochemical methods (high temperature, strong chemicals), so that cellulose in the biomass can be made readily accessible for further processing into ethanol. The finding by the UF researcher is significant, because the mild enzymatic conditions for lignin degradation may lower the (delignification) pretreatment cost of cellulose ethanol production. The paper (published in the Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Journal, URL above) says that the enzymes "are evolutionarily distinct, host-derived, produced in the salivary gland, secreted into the foregut, bind copper, and play a role in lignocellulose digestion". The results may "contribute to a better understanding of termite digestion and gut physiology, and will assist future translational studies that examine the contributions of individual termite enzymes in lignocellulose digestion".