Scientists studying the digestive system of a curious wood-eating crustacean have discovered it may hold the key to sustainably converting wood into biofuel.
Scientists studying the digestive system of a curious wood-eating crustacean have discovered it may hold the key to sustainably converting wood into biofuel.
Gribble are small marine invertebrates that have evolved to perform an important ecological role eating the abundant supplies of wood washed into the sea from river estuaries.
They can also be something of a marine menace, consuming the wood of boats and piers and causing considerable damage in the process.
Until now, the question of how gribble break through lignin – the highly resistant coating that wraps around the sugar polymers that compose wood – has been a mystery.
Read more at University of York
Image: This is a gribble on a piece of wood. (Credit: Claire Steele-King and Katrin Besser, University of York)
