Re-engineering of RuBisCO for the purpose of producing algal biofuels may be a lost cause

Abstract

Proponents of algal biofuels hope that photosynthesis could be improved, which would make them economically feasible. One of the means to do that would be by engineering and making the slow enzyme RuBisCO more efficient. In this commentary article I discuss the possibility it could be a lost cause, because the proper place of the enzyme in the evolutionary history is still misunderstood.

Keywords

• Biofuel
• Genetic Engineering