Glycos Biotechnologies’ SAB Chairman Presented Award for Research Converting Glycerine into High Value Products

28 May, 2010

Glycos Biotechnologies, Inc. (GlycosBio), a metabolic engineering innovator in biologically converting non-sugar feedstocks into next generation bioproducts, announced that Dr. Ramon Gonzalez, Scientific Advisory Board Chairman of GlycosBio, has received the 2010 Glycerine Innovation Award during the Annual Meeting of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS). The award is sponsored annually by The Soap and Detergent Associate (SDA) and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB).

The William W. Akers Assistant Professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Bioengineering at Rice University in Houston, Gonzalez and his team of researchers identified the metabolic processes and conditions that allow a known strain of E. coli to convert glycerine, the major byproduct of biodiesel production, into ethanol.

By discovering innovative pathways that mediate glycerol fermentation in E. coli, Gonzalez was able to develop new technologies for converting glycerol into high-value chemicals. Through this research and discovery, Gonzalez and his team designed strains of E. coli that could produce a range of products from biofuels, ethanol, hydrogen and organic acids.

GlycosBio was founded based on Gonzalez’s discovery. The company is using this technology innovation to enable petrochemical, palm oil, oleochemical and biofuel producers to convert by-products including glycerol and free fatty acids into higher-value green chemicals. By not following the typical sugars-based fermentation research, GlycosBio offers the industry an alternative approach to traditional corn or sugar-based biofuel and chemical production.

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