Korean scientists develop technology to produce acetone from CO2

A team of Korean scientists has developed fundamental technology to produce acetone, which is used in various chemical products as well as in daily living, by using carbon dioxide, widely considered the main culprit of global warming.

The research team led by Woo Han-min at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology said on Sunday that it had developed technology to produce acetone directly from solar light and carbon dioxide by using bacteria. The team paid attention to "cyanobacterial photosynthesis," which use sunlight and carbon dioxide. Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, is microorganism that is known to have generated oxygen in primitive Earth. The research team inserted certain gene into cyanobacteria, and engineered to enable the bacteria to generate acetone in an environment where solar light and carbon dioxide exist. Acetone is chemical that is not only used in deleting manicure but also applied as organic agent in chemical processing.

Cyanobacteria can be economically reproduced in large volume just with supply of sunlight and carbon dioxide, and grows even faster than plants. The research team has enhanced the utility of the system by making it into a module, and has made it possible to adjust the speed at which acetone is produced by changing the surrounding environment.

“If we apply the outcome of our study to facilities that emit carbon oxide, we can reduce carbon dioxide emission, and produce acetone that is needed in chemical processing,” Woo said. “This could become a new breakthrough in coping with climate change.”

The study was published in the February 16 issue of "Plant Biotechnology," an international journal in plant science.

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