Scientific American: Scientists have transformed E. coli to produce diesel and other hydrocarbons from sugars–as well as secrete enzymes to break down cellulose. The bacteria responsible for most cases of food poisoning in the U.S. has been turned into an efficient biological factory to make chemicals, medicines and, now, fuels. Chemical engineer Jay Keasling of the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues have manipulated the genetic code of Escherichia coli, a common gut bacteria, so that …