The Third Wave in Biotechnology

• A dozen years after the first approval of a biotech medicine, the first biotechnology-enhanced crop entered the marketplace. Now, as scientists utilize life science technologies to improve manufacturing processes, chemical synthesis and production, a third wave of biotechnology is blossoming, industrial and environmental biotechnology.
• The same genomic and proteomic technologies used to discover new drugs and therapeutics are also changing the way consumer products are being made. These technologies can create new enzyme "biocatalysts," which are used in the production of raw materials, intermediates and consumer products.
• Through recombinant DNA technology, scientists can use microorganisms in new and exciting ways to manufacture polymers, vitamins, enzymes, or transportation fuel. By harnessing the natural power of enzymes or whole cell systems, and using sugars as feedstock for product manufacture, industrial biotech companies can work with nature to help us move from a petroleum-based economy to a "bio-based economy."
• Industrial biotechnology companies have discovered novel microbes in diverse locations including the deep ocean trenches, the hot springs of Yellowstone Park, and even in Antarctica. By genetically modifying these microbes, companies can use them to create specialized enzymes that are in turn harnessed to make new products and cleaner manufacturing processes.
• Industrial biotechnology innovations are now successfully competing with traditional manufacturing processes. Companies that adopt industrial biotechnology processes find they cut costs, reduce pollution and increase profitability. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently released a report detailing 21 such case studies. This report shows that industrial biotech is a key technology for achieving industrial sustainability, but companies primarily adopt the technology to cut production costs. A 2010 World Economic Forum report estimated that the market for biofuels, biobased bulk chemicals and plastics, and bioprocessing enzymes would approach $95 billion by 2020.
• Industrial biotechnology may help solve the global warming problem because it can lower carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming in several ways. First, in many cases industrial biotech uses renewable feedstocks instead of fossil fuels, thereby slowing the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Secondly, industrial biotech processes use less energy and generate less carbon dioxide than traditional manufacturing processes. Scientists are also developing microorganisms that can sequester or consume carbon dioxide. Industrial biotech should be a key component of any strategy to reduce climate-change emissions.

Real World Examples of Third Wave Biotech