Sake Brewer Develops "Super Yeast"

In a slight detour from beer, Japanese sake brewer Gekkeikan has developed a new "super yeast:"

Gekkeikan... has announced the development of a new "super yeast" able to produce cellulosic ethanol from non-edible parts of plants, such as paddy straw and chaff. The super yeast that produces alcohol was created with genetic engineering, by integrating koji mold genes that produce cellulolytic enzymes into sake yeast.

Good progress toward making biofuels economically feasible (via Instapundit).