Biotechnology: ‘Third-wave generation’…

INDUSTRIAL BIOTECH

From the desk of MD

FOR SOME TIME now the public has perceived biotechnology to mean the dangerous meddling of genetics in food crops. But biotechnology is of course about much more than transgenic food (i.e. that, which describes a plant that contains genes from a different species, transferred using the techniques of genetic modification): it also encompasses, for example, the use of microbes to make pharmaceutical medicines. Yet, the many benefits of the first wave of biotech products, in medicine, have regrettably been overshadowed by the supposed ‘risks’ of biotech’s second wave, in agriculture. Prince Charles, for instance, was vociferous in his attacks against furthering the promotion of GM crops, despite the lack of scientific evidence that GM crops raises public health concerns because of cross-fertilisation. Might, though, its third wave – dubbed “industrial biotech”, “white biotech” or “green chemistry” – resolve the image problem that biotech has been tagged with?

As with other biotechnological variations, industrial biotech involves the desire to seek engineering biological molecules and microbes with attractive new and additional features. What is different, however, is how they are then used in replacing chemical processes with biological ones. Industrial biotech offers huge scope: whether this is to produce chemicals for other processes or to create biopolymers with new properties, harnessing biology in accomplishing what was previously achieved only through big and dirty chemical factories, is an exciting period for expecting cleaner and greener ways of doing things.

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IN 2007, sales of industrial-biotech products were in the region of $140-billion, and 6% of all chemical sales were generated with the help of biotechnology. Experts in the field envisage a future in which bio-refineries are dotted around the countryside producing fuels and other chemicals from biomass such as agricultural waste.

DSM, a company based in Heerlen in the Netherlands, has been working in industrial biotechnology for years. In the 1990s it started producing enzymes for cheese and omega-6 fatty acids for infant formulas. Later, it went on to develop a biological process to produce cephalosporin, an antibiotic drug, in a much cleaner way than the chemical processes that were previously used in the manufacture of the drug. DSM’s most recent effort has been to find a biological route in producing a chemical known as succinic acid (C₄H₆O₄), which is used to make a range of products including spandex, resins, acidity regulators in foods, de-icing salts and biopolymers for agriculture.

The chemical processes involved in making succinic acid are dependant upon the use of crude oil or natural gas. DSM’s biological approach is based on fermentation using enzymes and genetically engineered microbes. Preliminary findings, so far, suggest that the pilot-production phase has been successful. The next step will be moving the process on to a demonstration factory in Lestrem, France, which is due to be running by the end of this year. If, as expected, that goes well, a much bigger commercial operation will follow. As well as making succinic acid from biologically derived starch, rather than fossil fuels, its overall process also consumes 40% less energy and produces fewer carbon dioxide emissions.

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ENZYMES are the first tool of choice in white biotechnology, particularly where chemical conversion processes are fairly simple and straightforward. Part of the supply market has focussed its attention on supplying optimised-enzymes that help to make chemical reactions happen faster, or at lower temperatures. This is an important factor because it can make the difference between a commercial and a non-commercial process. Industrial enzymes are used in areas such as detergents, brewing or in producing animal feeds.

If, however, a more complicated series of reactions is required, or the enzyme in the process is used up during conversion and needs to be regenerated, the use of microbes becomes essential. Microbes can accomplish and perform literally hundreds of tasks simultaneously and are able to recreate the enzymes they need.

Microbe creation requires meeting a complexity of needs: first, it involves starting off with one that does part of the job in question, then convincing the microbe to specialise in that activity. DSM, for example, found its yeast microbe living in elephant dung, where it later broke down cellulose in starch. Further developments include eliminating the things the microbe does but which are not related to the task in hand by inactivating non-essential genes and genetic material. Then, modified microbes are produced in large numbers and those that are best suited are selected. The result is a bug that is specially and genetically adapted for a particular task.

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PROPONENTS of biotech’s third-wave are optimistic that they can avoid the pitfalls that hindered greatly the adoption of biotech crops. Critics, like Prince Charles, suggest such crops are unnatural “Frankenfoods” that extend primarily for corporate profit and control of agriculture.

Unlike transgenic foods (e.g. tomatoes), industrial-biotech products will not be sold directly to consumers. Instead of displacing “natural” products with bioengineered alternatives, as in agriculture, industrial biotechnology generally displaces fossil fuels and their associated chemical processes with greener biological alternatives. It is suggested this will make it easier to convince people of its benefits, rehabilitating the concept of biotechnology more widely. It certainly has credibility.

However, ethical questions are still posed. One problem, for instance, is that even though the raw materials used in industrial biotechnology may not be derived from fossil fuels, they may still be capable of stirring up controversial issues. Using food crops like maize as a raw material to produce biofuel is already contentious because of its direct impact on food prices. Growing non-food crops for industrial use, too, is problematic because it can reduce further the availability of land for food production. Reducing the availability of land (a scarce resource) can only increase the likelihood of starvation and drought in various parts of the world.

The use of agricultural waste is highly beneficial. Converting agricultural waste into other chemicals (including fuels) using industrial biotechnology could replace as much as 25% of global oil consumption. Waste is always in abundance. Raw materials might also be grown on marginal land which is unsuitable for food production, but that might implode on biodiversity. The potential for a new, greener chemicals industry within remote rural areas, creating jobs and economy, is undoubtedly industrial biotechnology’s most promising feature.

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© Mark Dowe 2009: all rights protected

mark.dowe@googlemail.com