Anil Lachke is a scientist in the Division of Biochemical Sciences of National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. His major research interests include pentose metabolism in yeasts, biotechnology for biomass utilization and biodeinking for recycling of waste paper. He takes special interest in popularization of science and technology. He likes Indian classical music, yoga and drawing.

In the biosphere we find cellulose and hemicellulose as the major polysaccharides. On acid or enzymatic hydrolysis, D-glucose is produced from cellulose and D-xylose is produced from xylans as the major sugar in the hydrolysate. Initially it was believed that yeasts do not ferment D-xylose to ethanol although many are capable of producing xylitol. Twenty years ago, a few yeasts that could convert D-xylose to ethanol were found. Ethanol is viewed as a potential fuel that is available from biomass and hence new methods to generate ethanol from hitherto inaccessible sources are gaining importance. Biotechnology for efficient utilization of lignocellulose wastes as fuels relies on the utilization of both the cellulosic as well as hemicellulosic portions of the biomass. In this article, conversion of xylose into ethanol is discussed.

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Address for Correspondence
Anil Lachke
Division of Biochemical Sciences
National Chemical Laboratory
Pune 411 008, India.