FURI | Fall 2019

Metabolic Engineering for Ethyl Lactate Production in E.coli

Ethyl lactate is a compound with great potential as a biodegradable solvent with no current efficient means of production. This research aims to create a sustainable pathway for ethyl lactate in Escherichia coli through recombinant plasmid transformation with genes for the necessary reaction substrates and enzymes. When successful, this biological means of production will allow for ethyl lactate to become a less expensive, green alternative for more common toxic solvents currently used. Future research should further investigate which genetically engineered pathways are optimal.