Engineering Yeast to Produce Fatty Acid-Derived Fuels and Chemicals

A rising world population and rapid economic development continue to increase energy demands. Currently, most of our energy needs are met by fossil fuel technologies, which are unsustainable, ecologically risky, and often associated with volatile pricing and challenging political factors. Microbial-based  fuels production technology offers a greener, sustainable alternative. Here we engineer baker's yeast to produce fatty acid-derived fuels and chemicals. We optimize the endogenous fatty acid pathway naturally used for energy storage and membrane composition, and redirect it using terminal enzymes to produce free fatty acids, fatty acid ethyl esters, and fatty alcohols.