• Key Takeaways - Automation and AI can systematically pinpoint optimal designs among hundreds of thousands of possibilities, increasing isoprenol titers five-fold in weeks. • - Biosensor-driven selection turned a microbe’s fuel-eating behavior into a tool, achieving a 36-fold isoprenol production increase. • - Together, these methods could shorten strain development timelines from years to months, accelerating synthetic aviation fuel production. • - The approaches are generalizable, offering a blueprint for engineering microbes to make a wide range of bio-based products. • When it comes to powering aircraft, jet engines need dense, energy-packed fuels. • Right now, nearly all of that fuel comes from petroleum, as batteries don’t yet deliver enough punch for most flights.
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