
iMicrobes (YC W15) Builds Bacteria to Produce Chemicals from Natural Gas - dgreenf
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/16/industrial-microbes/
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dgreenf
Industrial Microbes founders here. We all worked in biofuels for many years
and are excited about new green ways of manufacturing. Some of the chemicals
we want to make actually absorb carbon dioxide during their production. It's a
great time to be designing and building using biology.

Let us know if you have any questions!

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salimmadjd
_Some of the chemicals we want to make actually absorb carbon dioxide during
their production_

If you are replacing natural gas with sugar as the energy source, then how are
you able to absorb CO2? At some point oxidation of hydrocarbons will yield
CO2.

I think what you are doing is very cool, but wanted to understand how you are
going to do what's claimed.

~~~
Dylan16807
The chemical production is what absorbs CO2. The CO2 released from metabolism
is another thing entirely, because making and then using sugar is carbon-
neutral.

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untilHellbanned
I'm an academic molecular biologist (I study human biology), but haven't
investigated iMicrobes or LS9.

I assume what you learned from LS9 will be useful for iMicrobes. Is there
anything non-proprietary you can say about what you learned from your LS9
experience?

Just trying to understand better what's the new thing here and how you caught
YC's interest.

Good luck to your team!

~~~
dgreenf
We are grateful for our time at LS9, we got to work with some amazing people.
I learned:

It's important to be flexible. Having the ability to use multiple raw
materials and make different products is important, especially when the prices
of all those things is constantly changing (think oil today).

Most people won't pay more for a green product. But if you can lower the cost
for something that's already environmentally friendly, you can make an impact.

When it comes to living cells, we don't understand as much as we think we do.
That means you need to try both engineering and evolutionary (random)
strategies.

Thanks for the good wishes!

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ajuc
There's also this Polish (startup? company? hard to say) Elementa Critica Sp.
z o.o. They are basing on microbes discovered in one unusually safe coal mine
in Poland - these bacteria eat methan and produce ectoine among other things,
and the company attemp to use them on industrial scale (they already have
patented process to isolate the ectoine from grown bacteria).

[http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news,400629,polish-
ect...](http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news,400629,polish-ectoine-from-
bacteria-for-medicine-and-cosmetics.html)

~~~
dgreenf
Neat! We hadn't heard of them. There are a handful of companies using natural
methanotrophs (methane-eating bacteria) to make chemicals. We hope that moving
methanotroph enzymes into the standard industrial strains of bacteria and
yeast will open up many more applications for these amazing enzymes.

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srunni
For anyone interested in the production of chemicals using biological methods,
a good report on the _Industrialization of Biology: A Roadmap to Accelerate
the Advanced Manufacturing of Chemicals_ was released last Friday (free PDF):
[http://www.nap.edu/catalog/19001/industrialization-of-
biolog...](http://www.nap.edu/catalog/19001/industrialization-of-biology-a-
roadmap-to-accelerate-the-advanced-manufacturing)

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jefflinwood
With methane being one of the major feedstocks in the chemical industry, is
the basis for the company that microbe production will be cheaper than
traditional catalysts?

Or are you trying to go for more decentralized processes with lower capital
costs?

(I have a chemical engineering degree, but don't use it)

~~~
dgreenf
Methane is lower cost than other raw materials like oil. That is why there is
an opportunity to make chemicals cheaper, and also greener. The microbe itself
it the catalyst - actually the enzymes inside do the work.

A decentralized process would let you use all the stranded natural gas that is
currently flared. It's a big challenge though.

~~~
jefflinwood
Sure, but existing chemical companies already use methane as a feedstock.

It would be more interesting if you could rescue the flared natural gas in a
place like North Dakota where they're currently not using it and/or
reinjecting it into wells to maintain pressure.

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prenschler
are you hiring? for what? and how do we apply?

~~~
gourneau
My startup is hiring, we are doing cool BioTech stuff :) We are looking for
Python hackers, and scientists. Contact me at josh@synthego.com for more info.

