Patent ID: 7459223

Claim:
A method of promoting reductive processes in a biological system comprising the steps of: (a) providing an electrochemical bioreactor system having a cathode compartment equipped with a cathode and an anode compartment equipped with an anode, the cathode and anode compartment being separated by a cation selective membrane, wherein the cathode and anode are connected by a conductive material to a power supply; (b) placing a suitable amount of neutral red, wherein at least a portion of the neutral red is reduced, a biological catalyst which provides a carboxylic acid reductase, NADPH and ATP, and a substrate which is a carboxylic acid in the cathode compartment; and (c) applying from the power supply a current between the anode and the cathode, wherein at least a portion of the neutral red is electrically reduced and the substrate is converted to an alcohol.