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Food from Coal-derived Materials by Microbial Synthesis

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Abstract

THE explosive increase in the world's population has been accompanied by an overall food shortage. New and increased supplies of food, especially high quality protein, are urgently needed. Earlier investigations have described the growth of micro-organisms on paraffins, synthetic liquid fuel (‘Kogasin’), and petroleum fractions1–3. Recently, it has been found that micro-organisms convert petroleum or petroleum fractions to protein, vitamins, or amino-acids4–14. Because coal is a cheap fossil fuel and by far the most abundant source of readily available, fixed carbon, investigations were initiated to determine whether coal could serve as a source of high protein food.

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Author notes

  1. MELVIN P. SILVERMAN

    Present address: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pittsburgh Coal Research Center, U.S. Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    MELVIN P. SILVERMAN, JOAN N. GORDON & IRVING WENDER

Authors
  1. MELVIN P. SILVERMAN
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  2. JOAN N. GORDON
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  3. IRVING WENDER
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SILVERMAN, M., GORDON, J. & WENDER, I. Food from Coal-derived Materials by Microbial Synthesis. Nature 211, 735–736 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/211735b0

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