Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Monday, July 7, 2008

Lignin expert chooses to pursue biofuels research at UW-Madison

University of Wisconsin
July 1, 2008
by Nicole Miller

Most scientists can't help but daydream about their research projects, which is why you'll often find John Ralph doodling on restaurant napkins. The University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of biochemistry often interrupts his meals with a quick sketch, usually depicting some piece of the structure of lignin, the subject of his research for the past 36 years.

But amid deepening concern over the world's dependency on oil, Ralph's napkin art might turn out to be as valuable as a rare Rembrandt. Lignin — a tough, glue-like substance that keeps plant cell walls from falling apart — presently stands as one of the chief barriers to making fuel from grasses and woody plants, which most experts see as a preferable alternative to ethanol made from corn kernels or other food sources. And few people in the world know more about lignin than Ralph, who until earlier this year was a scientist with the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center at UW-Madison.

Read the full story

No comments: