PMB Professor Awarded Patent

September 08, 2014

Photosynthesis for Fuel and Chemicals Production

Professor MelisPlant & Microbial Biology Professor Anastasios Melis and former PMB postdoctoral scholar Pia Lindberg were awarded US and World patent rights to their invention entitled “Isoprene hydrocarbons production using genetically engineered cyanobacteria.”

The US Patent and Trademark Office cited the novelty of the invention in offering methods and compositions for the direct photosynthetic production of isoprene hydrocarbons from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water in cyanobacteria. This patent (US # 8,802,407) is an application and reduction to practice of the “Photosynthetic Biofuels” concept, envisioned and pioneered by the Melis lab in the PMB department.

The concept entails the direct application of photosynthesis for the generation of fuels and related chemicals, in a process where a single organism acts both as photocatalyst and processor, synthesizing and secreting ready to use commodity products.

Important Links

Melis Profile on this website