Ethanol's claiming a bigger share in our gasoline blends, but future supplies of ethanol could depend on a surprising, tiny source. Chicago Public Radio's Shawn Allee reports.

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Home-grown ethanol's made from corn, but corn's expensive and after all, we eat it. Scientists want ethanol from cheap, energy-rich plants like woody grasses. The problem is, microbes that convert corn into ethanol do not work with these alternative plants, but researchers are working on it. The University of Illinois' Hans Blaschek says biologists are hunting for microbes to break down nearly any vegetation.

BLASCHEK: If you look in the right places, you can let nature do some of the work for you. On the other hand, today with the new biology we're all excited about, one can begin to really construct designer microbes.

Blaschek says breakthroughs in ethanol microbiology could come within the next decade. The federal government just funded three bio-energy centers to speed up that research.

I'm Shawn Allee, Chicago Public Radio.