I guess it's just one more way we can get out of the corner we'e backed ourselves into.

Gasoline as a renewable resource?

sounds good to me.

brilliant

Although this technology has infinite uses and could potentially save us from our oil problems among others, the possibilities are frightening. The ability to build organisms from scratch or to fine tune genes for our own reasons could lead to many unforeseen problems.

We should have seen the opposition from the Middle East coming then we could at least had a head start on this problem. Affordable solar-powered cars are a long way off, and ethanol wouldn't really help us that much. Hydrogen is still a long way off also. If nuclear could be controlled more effectively and the radiation contained, then we would be in business. One of the plug-in prius's that my dad tested took the energy that the car used from the batteries and used it to fuel the car. Whenit was coasting or braking it would take that energy and put it back into the batteries. I thought that was really cool.

This is a great idea however for it to be mass produced I would guess that funding is incapable of of weighing out rising oil prices. An idea created by a bunch of funny-looking scientists with nothing but a dream is one thing but a nation to support it is another.

I like the principle but I would like to know more about how accidental releases of these modified bacterias can be controlled.

For example, E.Coli is a bacteria that we have in our intestines and gasoline is carcinogen. I would not want this modified E.Coli in my intestines.

They are on the right track. but they are going to have similar problems as ethanol. Corn is not free, sugar is not free. Sure, sugar maybe cheap but as you try supplying the demand to make 12 billion barrels the price is going to go up, farmers will stop growing other crops as sugar is now worth much more and other crops, then other crops become more expensive.
I would think conversion from a product that is waste, like cellulose or nitrogenous sewer waste would be they way you would want to go. These sources have a decent energy content already and we are paying to dispose of them. Wind and solar energy sources are free yet there are not many companies that are making a "legitimate" profit off the production of energy from these devices. The secret to our problems is to find energy that is naturally produced without significant further expenditure of energy for it's use.
I believe they will produce a great bug that will convert 100% sugar to oil, but they have to envision the roll-out on the global economy to see its feasibility.

A lot of these comments point out the draw backs to this idea as if it were presented as our solution to pumping oil from the ground. This is far from true. Popular Science reports on new emerging technologies that are being concocted in labrotories across the globe. I, for one, enjoy hearing about POSSIBLE breakthroughs in technology that could help supplement future energy needs. I would hate to discourage the folks that devote their lives to research of this kind (even if it's for profit). I'm guessing that there will not be a single solution to the energy crisis but a combination of new sources of energy coupled with conservation efforts will prevail.

JT
BSME

I hope they can acually do it because it will benfit us all in many ways