title: The path to next generation biofuels: successes and challenges in the era of synthetic biology.
abstract: Volatility of oil prices along with major concerns about climate change, oil supply security and depleting reserves have sparked renewed interest in the production of fuels from renewable resources. Recent advances in synthetic biology provide new tools for metabolic engineers to direct their strategies and construct optimal biocatalysts for the sustainable production of biofuels. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology efforts entailing the engineering of native and de novo pathways for conversion of biomass constituents to short-chain alcohols and advanced biofuels are herewith reviewed. In the foreseeable future, formal integration of functional genomics and systems biology with synthetic biology and metabolic engineering will undoubtedly support the discovery, characterization, and engineering of new metabolic routes and more efficient microbial systems for the production of biofuels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Clementina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dellomonaco
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fava
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
mesh_terms: D000438:Alcohols / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources; D005658:Fungi / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols; D056804:Biofuels