How the wood-eating gribble could help turn waste into fuel of the future

A team, led by Simon McQueen-Mason and Neil Bruce at the University of York, have turned to the ruinous power of tiny wood-boring marine isopod called ‘gribble,’ which historically attacked the timber hulls of seafarers’ ships.

Using biochemical analysis and X-ray imaging techniques, scientists from York, the University of Portsmouth and the USA’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have determined the structure and function of a key enzyme used by gribble to digest wood. It will help researchers reproduce its effects on an industrial scale in to create sustainable liquid biofuels.

The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. Prof McQueen-Mason said: “This is the first functionally characterized animal enzyme of this type and provides us with a previously undiscovered picture of how they work.”

Douglas Kell, chief executive of the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre, said: “If we can harness them effectively, waste materials could be used to make sustainable fuels.”

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