Why the Popularity of Industrial Biotechnology is on the Rise?

Industrial biotechnology is the process of using microbes and enzymes for manufacturing items for industry, such as chemicals, polymers, food, agricultural, and pharmaceutical products, as well as energy carriers.

FREMONT, CA: Industrial biotechnology is a promising new strategy to reducing pollution, saving resources, and lowering costs. It's called the third wave of biotechnology. Industrial biotechnology may have a more significant global influence than health care or agriculture biotechnology if fully developed. It allows businesses to save money while conserving the environment. Also, many of its goods do not require the lengthy FDA review timelines that drugs do, making it a faster and easier road to market. Unlike pharmaceuticals, which can take up to a decade to develop, new industrial processes can be developed in two to five years.

Using biotechnology in industrial operations changes how manufacturers build items and creates new unimaginable products a few years ago. Because industrial biotechnology is new, its advantages remain unknown to industry, governments, and consumers.

Industrial biotechnology has always combined product improvement with pollution avoidance. The usage of phosphates in laundry detergent created water pollution in the 1970s, which industrial biotechnology remedied. Enzymes that remove stains from clothing better than phosphates were created by biotechnology businesses, allowing a non-polluting biobased additive while boosting product performance. This breakthrough reduced phosphate-related alga blooms in surface waters globally while allowing consumers to save electricity and acquire cleaner garments.

Neolithic societies fermented grapes to make wine, and Babylonians utilized microbial yeasts to manufacture beer. Fermentation expertise evolved, enabling the manufacture of cheese, yogurt, vinegar, and other foods. Louis Pasteur established microbial activity that caused fermentation in the 1800s, and Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. 

Large-scale fermentation procedures for producing this wonder medicine were discovered in the 1940s. The biotechnology revolution began after WWII, giving rise to modern industrial biotechnology.

Since then, industrial biotechnology has generated enzymes for everyday usage and manufacture. Enzymes are used in meat tenderizers and several contact lens cleaning solutions to remove sticky protein deposits. In general, industrial biotechnology involves microbial enzyme synthesis. These enzymes are natural biocatalysts that facilitate and accelerate complex biological reactions. Industrial biotechnology is so potent because of these remarkable enzyme catalysts.

Utilizing existing biological pathways for industrial use is the goal of industrial biotechnology. The industrial biotechnology revolution is driven by advances in genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics, three domains that investigate detailed information derived from cells. So far, scientists have used new approaches on bacteria, yeasts, fungi, marine diatoms, and protozoa.

Natural enzymes are found and improved by industrial biotechnology. Microorganism genomic data helps researchers exploit the genetic variety of microbial populations. Researchers look for enzyme-producing bacteria in the wild, and then use DNA probes to look for genes that create enzymes with specific biocatalytic properties. Once isolated, these enzymes can be identified and described for their industrial use. They can be improved using biotechnology if required.

Because of recent tremendous breakthroughs in biotechnology, many biocatalytic instruments are fast becoming available for industrial usage. Many chemical engineers and product development professionals in the commercial sector are unaware that biocatalysts or whole-cell procedures are available. This is an example of a "technology gap" when a new technology is available but not widely used. Incorporating biotechnology into manufacturing processes must bridge this gap.