Specialty chemicals from microbes

Synthesis gas, that consists largely of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen, has been used in a process to make the commodity chemical, 2-hydroxybutyric acid. This news report discusses a proposal to alter regulations of materials and products involved in using synthetic biology to make chemicals. Genetic engineering can be complex and time consuming. This research paper describes an approach to set up microbes in a way that they increase fitness by evolving to produce higher levels of desired chemicals, in this cas naringenin and glucaric acid. This paper describes metabolic engineering for the microbial production benzylisoquinoline alkaloids; codeine, morphine, and hydrocordone. The microbial production of these chemicals can both decrease cost and increase security in the supply chain. This article provides a recent review of methods and projects involving the microbial biosynthesis of industrial chemicals.