Jim Dumesic: The spark

For a world hooked on fossil carbons, the vials of amber syrup in Jim Dumesic’s lab are full of sweet potential. Dumesic’s group caused a stir in research circles and the media in 2014 by publishing a paper in the journal Science describing a new scheme for breaking down biomass and unlocking its polysaccharides. Those sugars – candy for microbes – can be fermented to ethanol or upgraded into a host of high value chemicals currently made from petroleum.