Microbes

So we had the idea, can we take some of these NASA-type ideas and apply them to our carbon problem here on Earth? Could we cultivate these NASA-type microbes in order to make valuable products here on Earth? And we started a company to do it. And in that company, we discovered that these hydrogenotrophs - which I'll actually call nature's supercharged carbon recyclers - we found that they are a powerful class of microbes that had been largely overlooked and understudied and that they could make some really valuable products. So we began cultivating these products, these microbes, in our lab. We found that we can make essential amino acids from carbon dioxide using these microbes. And we even made a protein-rich meal that has an amino acid profile similar to what you might find in some animal proteins. We began cultivating them even further, and we found that we can make oil. Oils are used to manufacture many products. We made an oil that was similar to a citrus oil, which can be used for flavoring and for fragrances, but it also can be used as a biodegradable cleaner or even as a jet fuel. And we made an oil that's similar to palm oil. Palm oil is used to manufacture a wide range of consumer and industrial goods.