For any of you that read the last Newsweek, you may remember an article entitled “A Bug to Save the Planet.” The article was an update on the work of Craig Venter, a scientist and businessman most recently named one of TIME’s top 100 most influential people in the world. In addition to his revolutionary work on the mapping of the human genome (remember the Human Genome Project from high school biology) Venter is now making moves to aid in what many have deemed a global energy crisis.

According to his research, Venter has found that through genetic engineering, the chromosomes of bacteria can be manipulated so that when they ingest CO2, sunlight, and water they excrete energy in the form of gasoline. In essence we would be killing two birds with one stone. Not only does this energy option create a fuel that alleviates us of our dependency on foreign oil, but the bugs ingest CO2!! With all this talk of reducing carbon emissions, here we have an alternative energy option that can actually reduce carbon emissions instead of increasing them.

Forget the E85 corn ethanol you’ve been hearing so much about.

There are two huge problems with ethanols made from corn and sugar. First, the amount of energy used to produce these new forms of gas is greater or equal to the amount of energy saved. And second, if we are using the food that once fed people to power our SUVs, then someone that was once fed is going to starve. To kill a third bird, Venter’s biological fuel would have no implications for food production, and could help to stifle the growing price of food across the globe.

If this biological fuel is perfected, it will be fermented in giant vats like beer or wine, and the product will be such that engines do not even need modification they do with some ethanols. If Venter is correct in his calculations, we could see this new fuel come into fruition within the next few years!

Of course, my first thoughts after reading this were that it all sounds way too good to be true. Why would I have to stumble upon a one page blurb hidden in the back of Newsweek to find out about the cure to the energy crisis? Shouldn’t it be the cover story? But perhaps that’s more a telltale sign of what’s wrong with the media than anything else. In February of this year, Venter gave a talk at TED sharing the research he has done, and his hopes for the future. If I were a reporter, it would have made the front page on that day in February.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt in my mind that Venter will become a household name in the next few years, if he can provide what he promises. The cure to the energy crisis, global food crisis, and global warming all in one laboratory. Influential is an understatement.

What are your thoughts on the way the government and society will react if Venter is successful? Europeans are already very opposed to GM foods, but will GM fuels bring about the same opposition? I’m pretty sure Obama would, but do you think a McCain administration would support Venter and his biological fuel?

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