News
Sustainable Biomass Conversion
Invented for bioenergy research, this tool speeds production of life-saving drugs
A tool invented to speed up research on bioenergy microbes is now the basis for a UW–Madison spinoff company helping the pharmaceutical industry deliver life-saving therapies.
GLBRC researchers have trained a machine learning model to predict which solvent mixtures will best dissolve a compound based on their physical and chemical properties and demonstrated the framework in two case studies: finding sustainable alternatives for halogenated solvents and identifying solvent mixtures that can be used to separate similar compounds found in deconstructed plant fibers in order to convert them into valuable chemicals.
DOE Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil met with researchers from across campus and local tech industries to learn about UW–Madison’s research enterprise and alignment with DOE priorities. Discussions focused on opportunities to strengthen public-private partnerships, accelerate technology commercialization, expand workforce development and better position Wisconsin as a well-coordinated innovation ecosystem.
Michigan State University researcher Bruno Basso, a world-renowned soil scientist and expert in precision agriculture, will receive the 2026 Carl Sprengel Agronomic Research Award from the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America.
Scientists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison have developed a tool that researchers can use to selectively boost the activity of certain genes in bacteria, potentially unlocking discoveries in medicine and biotech.
Researchers with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center hypothesized that lignin, a part of the plant cell wall that provides structure, is present in cow manure and could be a source of valuable aromatic compounds. GLBRC research has focused on ways to extract aromatics from purpose-grown energy crops such as grasses and trees and using engineered microbes to convert those aromatic molecules into chemicals used to make plastics.
Bailey Marshall, a PhD candidate in cellular and molecular biology, works in Robert Landick’s lab, where she studies genetic engineering of bacteria for better biofuel production.
Fourth-year PhD student Rose Lizzo studies proteins that regulate production of enzymes that enable a bacterium called Zymomonas mobilis to turn plant sugars into sustainable fuels and chemicals.
As a graduate researcher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Sydney Bradley studies microbiology in pursuit of better biofuels. But she’s not just interested in publishing her findings in scientific journals.
Bradley integrates her passion for art, design, and education to make science accessible to a broader audience.
Michigan State University scientists with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center used computer simulations to model how 33 known inhibitors found in broken down plant material (hydrolysate) interact with the membrane of a promising bioenergy microbe called Zymomonas mobilis. These simulations revealed that most inhibitors easily passed through the membrane and were highly toxic to the cells; only a few sugars were slow to penetrate. Concluding that most inhibitory molecules would likely overwhelm efforts to remove them, researchers suggest that it would be more effective to dilute the hydrolysate before feeding it to microbes.
A team of international researchers led by the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center used alternate NMR methods to produce clearer pictures of molecular structures in lignin, a complex matrix of potentially-valuable molecules found in plant cell walls.
