The word metagenics uses the prefix meta and the suffix gen. Literally, it means "the creation of something which creates". In the context of biotechnology, metagenics is the practice of engineering organisms to create a specific enzyme, protein, or other biochemicals from simpler starting materials. The genetic engineering of E. coli with the specific task of producing human insulin from starting amino acids is an example. E. coli has also been engineered to digest plant biomass and use it to produce hydrocarbons in order to synthesize biofuels. The applications of metagenics on E. coli also include higher alcohols, fatty-acid based chemicals and terpenes. Biofuels The depletion of petroleum sources and increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the twenty and twenty-first centuries has been the driving factor behind the development of biofuels from microorganisms. E. coli is currently regarded as the best option for biofuel production because of the amount of knowledge available about its genome. The process converts biomass into fuels, and has proven successful on an industrial scale, with the United States having produced 6.4 billion gallons of bioethanol in 2007. Bioethenol is currently the front-runner for alternative fuel production and uses S.cerevisiae and Zymomonas mobilis to create ethanol through fermentation. However, maximum productivity is limited due to the fact that these organisms cannot use pentose sugars, leading to consideration of E.coli and Clostridia. E.coli is capable of producing ethanol under anaerobic conditions through metabolizing glucose into two moles of formate, two moles of acetate, and one mole of ethanol. While bioethanol has proved to be a successful alternative fuel source on an industrial scale, it also has its shortcomings, namely, its low energy density, high vapor pressure, and hygroscopicity. Current alternatives to bioethanol include biobutanol, biodiesel, propanol, and synthetic hydrocarbons. The most common form of biodiesels is fatty acid methyl esters and current synthesis strategies involve transesterification of triacylglycerols from plant oils. However, plant oils have a major limitation in availability of oil-seed supplies at competitive prices, leading to an interest in direct synthesis of fatty acid methyl esters in bacteria. This process bypasses transesterification, leading to higher energy yields and lower production cost. One of the principal obstacles in production of viable biofuels is that the maximum blend ratio of biofuel to petroleum is between 10% and 20%, Current biofuels are not compatible with high-performance, low-emission engines and costly changes in infrastructure and engine remodeling would be