Well not exactly....
But a wood-munching marine pest could be the key to a biofuel breakthrough, say scientists.
The Gribble, which resemble pink woodlice, has plagued seafarers for centuries boring through the planks of ships and destroying wooden piers.
But now environmental scientists are taking a keen interest in the crustaceans because the tiny creatures are able to break down woody cellulose and turn it into energy-rich sugars - or liquid biofuels for vehicle engines.
Researchers at the universities of York and Portsmouth made the discovery.
They wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: "This study has revealed a combination of glycosyl hydrolase genes in Limnoria that seem likely to endow it with greater autonomous facility for lignocellulose digestion than animals such as termites. This may in part help to explain why these animals can survive on a diet of lignocellulose without the aid of gut microbes."
No, I haven't got a clue what it means either but if it stops the planet warming and reduces the damage to fragile coral reefs caused by increasing sea temperatures then they have my vote.
No comments:
Post a Comment