Breakthrough for scientists studying how methane-eating bacteria convert greenhouse gas to fuel

Scientists studying the mysterious world of methane-eating bacteria may have brought us a step closer to converting a harmful greenhouse gas into fuel.

Methane has a powerful warming effect on the planet – but special bacteria are able to transform it into methanol, which can be used to power vehicles or generate electricity.

The bacteria naturally consume 30 million metric tons of methane a year.

Researchers have been trying to understand the process so we can replicate it, but it has been difficult to get an accurate picture.

Now, scientists at Northwestern University in Illinois, US, have used an advanced technique to uncover the never-before-seen atomic structures behind the reaction.

Their findings, set to be published on Friday in the journal Science, could ultimately allow us to develop a way to covert the gas ourselves.

The team used a new approach to study the enzyme at the heart of the reaction.

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Ordinarily, researchers have to rip it from the bacteria using a detergent solution.

This method effectively kills off the enzyme and limits how much information researchers can gather – like monitoring a heart without a heartbeat.

But a PhD candidate had a brainwave. First author Christopher Koo wondered what the team could find out by putting the enzyme back into a membrane resembling its native environment.

Using a technique called cryo-electron microscopy, the researchers were able to see the atomic structure of the active enzyme at high resolution for the first time.

Amy Rosenzweig, senior author of the paper, said it had “completely changed” their thinking and raised a string of exciting new questions.

Future discoveries could fill in a crucial missing link for engineers.

Dr Rosenzweig said bacteria with engineered enzymes might be used to harvest methane from fracking sites and even clean up oil spills.