One challenge in the production of bioproducts (chemicals and materials made from living organisms) is supplying large amounts of cheap and sustainably sourced building blocks from which these products can be made. The Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI) is addressing this challenge by developing sustainable methods to produce these bioproduct building blocks. Most recently, JBEI scientists in the Feedstocks Division figured out how to produce large amounts of a promising building block, 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid (PDC), in plants.