The world's population is expected to grow from today's 7 billion to about 8-9 billion by 2030. Feeding all of these people and eliminating hunger will require advances in food production and distribution that enhance food supplies without damaging the environment. Boosting food production and increasing food security is among the highest national security priorities in most countries.  Here we talk about two out-of-the-box solutions by using a new biotechnology platform cell-free synthetic pathway biotransformation called SyPaB (1, 2).  First, we accomplished the low-cost conversion of the most abundant non-food cellulosic material to edible starch. This process would be scaled up easily in emerging cellulosic biorefineries.  Second, we attempt to surpass limits of natural plant photosynthesis by integrating commercial solar cells, water electrolysis, and SyPaB-based artificial photosynthesis. This hypothetical system could have practical solar-energy-to-carbohydrate efficiencies of 10-25%, 30-100 times higher than those of plants, and decrease water consumption by 500 folds (3). References1.          Wang et al., Chem. Biol. 18 , 372 (2011).2.        Zhang et al/ Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 21 , 663 (2010).3.         Zhang, ACS Catal. 1 , 998 (2011).

Feeding the world: Two out-of-the-box solutions

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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