Right on!

‘‘In summary, an industrial cellulose fermentation might be

profitable if the cost of collection of raw materials could be min-

imized through the use of numerous small plants, if the small

plants could be cheaply constructed, if the operation could be

made automatic to decrease necessary personnel, and if the

concentration of cellulose fermented could be increased by con-

tinuous removal of fermentation products. Although such a sit-

uation is at present quite out of the question as an industrial

process, it is almost an exact specification of the ruminant ani-

mal, a small fermentation unit which gathers the raw materials,

transfers it to the fermentation chamber, and regulates its fur-

ther passage, continuously absorbs the fermentation products,

and transforms them into a few valuable substances, meat,

milk, etc. To these advantages must be added the crowning

adaptation: the unit replicates itself.”

Quotation from Robert Hungate (1950), the father of both rumen microbiology and the anaerobic culture technique that bears his name.

The awesome part is that people are fermenting cellulosic biomass by inoculating it with cultures taken from cow rumens, among other sources. The future is almost here!