MSU-DOE Plant Research Lab

The success of the bioeconomy depends in large part on the ability to manipulate plants at the molecular level. The PRL and related MSU departments have one of the largest and most skilled groups of plant scientists in the world. PRL researchers are creating more efficient and economical approaches to biodiesel production, including genetically modifying nonfood plants such as grasses to produce up to 10 times more biodiesel feedstock per acre than soybean oil. Other scientists have developed technology that allows plants to accumulate extremely high levels of starch, which is much easier to convert into fermentable sugars (the basic components of ethanol and many biochemicals) than cellulose.

Visit them on the web at: http://www.prl.msu.edu/