Introduction
Among the major new technologies that have appeared since the 1970s, biotechnology
has perhaps attracted the most attention. Biotechnology has proved capable of generating
enormous wealth and influencing every significant sector of the economy. Biotechnology
has already substantially affected healthcare; production and processing of food;
agriculture and forestry; environmental protection; and production of materials and
chemicals. This review focuses on achievements and future prospects for biotechnology in
sustainable production of goods and services, specially those that are derived at present
mostly from the traditional chemical industry.
Defining industrial sustainability
"Industrial sustainability" aims to achieve sustainable production and processing
within the context of ecological and social sustainability. Sustainability and sustainable
development have had different meanings in different epochs and not everyone is
agreed on a common definition of these concepts. For the purpose of this review,
sustainable development is understood to mean b. . . a process of change in which the
exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological
development, and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and
future potential to meet human needs and aspirations. . . (It is) meeting the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needsQ, as defined by World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland,
1987). Sustainable development requires a framework for integrating environmental
policies and development strategies in a global context (Hall and Roome, 1996).
Increasingly, sustainability considerations will shape future technological, socio-econom-
ic, political and cultural change to define the boundaries of what is acceptable
Role of biotechnology in sustainability
Biotechnology refers to an array of enabling technologies that are applicable to broadly
diverse industry sectors (Paugh and Lafrance, 1997; Liese et al., 2000). Biotechnology
comprises three distinct fields of activity, namely genetic engineering, protein engineering
and metabolic engineering. A fourth discipline, known variously as biochemical,
bioprocess and biotechnology engineering, is required for commercial production of
biotechnology products and delivery of its services. Of the many diverse techniques that
biotechnology embraces, none apply across all industrial sectors (Roberts et al., 1999;
Liese et al., 2000). Recognizing its strategic value, many countries are now formulating
and implementing integrated plans for using biotechnology for industrial regeneration, job
creation and social progress (Rigaux, 1997).
Biotechnology is versatile and has been assessed a key technology for a sustainable
chemical industry (Lievonen, 1999). Industries that previously never considered biological
sciences as impacting their business are exploring ways of using biotechnology to their
benefit. Biotechnology provides entirely novel opportunities for sustainable production of
existing and new products and services. Environmental concerns help drive the use of
biotechnology in industry, to not only remove pollutants from the environment but prevent
pollution in the first place. Biocatalyst-based processes have major roles to play in this
context. Biocatalysis operates at lower temperatures, produces less toxic waste, fewer
emissions and by-products compared to conventional chemical processes. New
biocatalysts with improved selectivity and enhanced performance for use in diverse
manufacturing and waste degrading processes (Abramovicz, 1990; Poppe and Novak,
1992; Roberts et al., 1999) are becoming available. In view of their selectivity, these
biocatalysts reduce the need for purifying the product from byproducts, thus reducing
energy demand and environmental impact. Unlike non-biological catalysts, biocatalysts
can be self-replicating.
The applications of biotechnology in the chemical industry
Commodity chemicals
At the basic level, life processes are chemical processes and understanding their
chemistry provides a basis for devising manufacturing operations that approach nature’s
elegance and efficiency. Biotechnology uses the power of life to enable effective, rapid,
safe and environmentally acceptable production of goods and services.
The chemical industry has used traditional biotechnological processes (e.g. microbial
production of enzymes, antibiotics, amino acids, ethanol, vitamins; enzyme catalysis) for
many years (Moo-Young, 1984; Poppe and Novak, 1992; Rehm et al., 1993; Chisti, 1999;
Flickinger and Drew, 1999; Herfried, 2000; Demain, 2000; Spier, 2000; Schmid, 2003). In
addition, traditional biotechnology is widely used in producing fermented foods and
treating waste (Nout, 1992; Moo-Young and Chisti, 1994; Jo¨ rdening and Winter, 2004).
Advances in genetic engineering and other biotechnologies have greatly expanded the
application potential of biotechnology and overcome many of the limitations of
biocatalysts of the preGMO era (Ranganathan, 1976; Liese et al., 2000; Schu¨ gerl and
Bellqardt, 2000). Chemical companies such as Monsanto and DuPont that were once
associated exclusively with traditional petrochemical based production methods have
either moved exclusively to biotechnology-based production, or are deriving significant
proportions of their income through biotechnology (Scheper, 1999; Bommarius, 2004).
Important commodity chemicals such as ethanol and cellulose esters are already sourced
from renewable agricultural feedstocks in the United States. New processes and renewable
resources for other commodity chemicals that are currently derived almost exclusively
from petrochemical feedstocks are in advanced stages of development. Examples of these
chemicals include succinic acid and ethylene glycol.
By the early 1990s biotechnology used for cleaner production was already contributing
about 60% of total biotechnology-related sales value for fine chemicals and between 5%
and 11% for pharmaceuticals (OECD, 1989). Some fine chemicals being manufactured in
multi-tonnage quantities using biotechnology are listed in Table 1 (Bruggink, 1996;
Eriksson, 1997). Nearly all these products have been around for a long time, but many are
now made using engineered biocatalysts.
Two major areas of biotechnology that are driving transformation of the conventional
chemical industry are biocatalysis and metabolic engineering (Poppe and Novak, 1992;
Kim et al., 2000). Genetic engineering and molecular biology techniques have been used
to obtain many modified enzymes with enhanced properties compared to their natural
counterparts. Metabolic engineering, or molecular level manipulation of metabolic
pathways in whole or part, is providing microorganisms and transgenic crops and animals
with new and enhanced capabilities for producing chemicals.
A future bioethanol based chemical industry, for example, will rely on biotechnology in
all of the following ways: (1) generation of high yield transgenic corn varieties having
starch that is readily accessible for enzymatic hydrolysis to glucose; (2) production of
engineered enzymes for greatly improved bioconversion of starch to sugars; (3) genetically
enhanced ethanol tolerant microorganisms that can rapidly ferment sugars to ethanol; (4)
ability to recover ethanol using high-efficiency low-expense bioprocessing.
Specialty and life science products
Biotechnology’s role in production of commodity chemicals is significant, but not as
visible as its role in production of agrochemicals and fine chemicals (Hsu, 2004). Many
renewable bioresources remain to be used effectively because they have been barely
studied. Flora and fauna of many of the world’s ecosystems have been barely investigated
for existence of novel compounds of potential value. For example, microalgae contribute
substantially to primary photosynthetic productivity on Earth, but are barely used
Table 1
Some well-established biotechnology products (by production volume)
Product Annual production (tons)
Bioethanol 26,000,000
l-Glutamic acid (MSG) 1,000,000
Citric acid 1,000,000
l-Lysine 350,000
Lactic acid 250,000
Food-processing enzymes 100,000
Vitamin C 80,000
Gluconic acid 50,000
Antibiotics 35,000
Feed enzymes 20,000
Xanthan 30,000
l-Threonine 10,000
l-Hydroxyphenylalanine 10,000
6-Aminopoenicillanic acid 7000
Nicotinamide 3000
d-p-hydroxyphenylglycine 3000
Vitamin F 1000
7-Aminocephalosporinic acid 1000
Aspartame 600
l-Methionine 200
Dextran 200
Vitamin B12 12
Provitamin D2 5
Branches and Application of Biotechnology
Today, Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary activity involving chemists, biologists, engineers and many other specialists. Its scope is enormous. There are sophisticated new drugs produced in the milk of transgenic sheep, microbial cocktails that can clean up contaminated land transgenic plants and fish that yield more food or resist disease - and hundreds of different micro-organisms able to produce fermentation products such as amino acids, vitamins, enzymes and antibiotics.
