DuPont Looking to Displace Fossil Fuels as Building Blocks of Chemicals

Nestled away in a small room on DuPont’s 150-acre research center in Wilmington, Del., robotic arms fill tiny tubes with gelatinous material that was extracted from corn and soybean plants. Other metallic arms will soon dip and measure and deconstruct each sample, spewing forth a list of its attributes and traits.

Only a fistful — maybe one of every 50 — will move on to the fermentation lab, a few buildings away. There, researchers will see how the samples react to different mixtures of air, glucose and microbes. Down the hall, other researchers will tinker with the microbes themselves.

By CLAUDIA H. DEUTSCH

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/28/business/28dupont.html?_r=1&oref=slogin