Talk about recycling: “Green chemicals” startup Genomatica on Wednesday said it has bioengineered a petroleum-free version of a widely used industrial solvent that can be produced in shuttered ethanol plants.
You’ve most likely never heard of the chemical, methyl ethyl ketone, or MEK, but it is used as a solvent in paint and other coatings. Genomatic says it has bioengineered a microbe that ingests sugar and water and produces MEK without the toxic byproducts and environmental risks that come from making petroleum-based industrial chemicals.
The San Diego company - backed by Silicon Valley venture capital firms Mohr Davidow Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson - last year produced its first green chemical in the lab, 1,4‐butanediol, or BDO, which is a raw material found in everything from skateboard wheels to spandex. Genomatica plans to license its bio-chemicals to industrial producers.
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