[Bioconversion] Enzymes?

[David B. Wilson]

Harmon Seaver wrote:
>    Does anyone know of cheap sources for fermentation enzymes? I know I
> can make my own by malting corn or barley, but I would think with all
> the current building of ethanol plants, the enzymes industry must be
> booming too.
>    Are they recyclable -- I mean, can you just grow them like yeast,
> keep a culture going?
>
>   
Both Novazyme and Genencor have enzymes for hydrolyzing starch,  which 
in bulk cost less than $0.01 per gallon of ethanol. There are many 
cloned genes for these enzymes and you could obtain strains that express 
them to make your own but it would not be cheaper.