I've got some ants they can start with.

Wow ..... that's pretty exciting stuff!

... Brad

Haha. This is what I work on every day at my job. We are working on increasing starch content in crops (through genetic modification). Whether I am for or against biofuel, this is where my paycheck comes from.

This sounds like the writer is refering to the algae biofuel industry. Algae can be 50% oil if you starve them after letting them mature long enough ( think two days). Algae can actually be part of the solution instead of part of the problem, as corn-based alcohol is.

Check out OriginOil, Inc - OriginOil Home and Solazyme for a basic look at the industry, or just check the tsble below:

Gallons of Oil per Acre per Year
Corn . . . . . . . 15
Soybeans . . . .48
Safflower. . . . . 83
Sunflower . . . 102
Rapeseed. . . 127
Oil Palm . . . . 635
Micro Algae . .1850 [based on actual biomass yields]
Micro Algae . .5000-15000 [theoretical laboratory yield]