US - Scientists are working to develop the tools and find the organisms to break down the complex structure of plant cellulose into its component sugars – the key step toward fermentation of those sugars into usable biofuel.

This process needs to be simple and economically efficient before cellulosic biofuels can compete with fossil fuels for transportation energy use.

As with any exploration of systems that involve largely unknown processes, a mechanistic model can be an important first step in improved understanding. Researchers at the Energy Biosciences Institute's (EBI) laboratories on the University of California, Berkeley, campus have improved that step, bringing science closer than ever before to predicting the deconstruction activity of enzymes towards cellulose. 

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