I never had problems in explaining to others my studies, until I started with biotechnology. In the first years of university, I studied food technologies so it was easy for me to tell others what my subjects were: nutrition, biology, analysis of risk, chemical analysis of aliments, and so on.

When I started my master's in biotechnology it became harder to give practical examples of what I was studying. The first reaction is always: “So you are studying GMOs kind of stuff?” And they are not wrong, but I never had a nice way to frame better what I’m studying and in general the uses of biotechnology.

What are Biotech studies

If you type on Google “biotechnology definition” the first result is: “The exploitation of biological processes for industrial and other purposes, especially the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, etc”. This is a very academic definition, in other words, biotechnologies use organisms, or part of them, to obtain a particular function, in many cases, this function is the production of a particular molecule, that could be antibodies, proteins, additives, flavors, or chemical building blocks. In some other cases, the final product that we obtain is the organism itself: an example are GMOs, useful for the production of better crops, more resistant ones, or completely new plants (this topic requires a post on its own). An example of classic biotechnology is fermentation that, by using microorganisms like yeasts or bacteria, can transform a feedstock into another product with, possibly, more value.
To obtain more sophisticated processes and products, often the ultimate tool for biotechnologists is genetic manipulation, and, as the technology for sequence analysis and precise modification of DNA become better, so the potential of biotech applications does.

Environmental biotechnology: Microbes, plants, and enzymes can be applied on particular sites to perform bioremediation after the release of toxic compounds in the environment (pollution event). The capability of microbes or enzymes to break down the pollutant in this case depends on its physio-chemical properties and the available microbes in the environment. Often, for the treatment of large areas, microorganisms are not added in-situ, but some environmental parameters are changed in order to favor the establishment of a useful degrading microbial community. The capacity of bacterial cells and fungi to break down hydrocarbons and aromatic molecules, often arise from the expression of particular extracellular enzymes, like laccases and oxygenases, naturally evolved for the degradation of other compounds, but that showed a promiscuous activity also on the artificial contaminant. Another important application of microbes is wastewater treatment, here microrganisms can consume the organic matter and nutrients in wastewaters, this is important because their release in the environment can cause eutrophication of superficial water bodies. In this case, microorganisms offer a solution that minimizes the consumption of energy and chemicals, and that reduces the costs of water treatment.

Plant biotechnology: Plants can be used to extract particular contaminants, like heavy metals, from soil; by delocalizing the metal from roots to the aerial organs, the contaminant can be harvested with the shoot, and be easily treated. Some particular types of plants can be used as hosts for the production of complex biomolecules like anthocyanins, carotenoids, and hormones, or even compounds with pharmaceutical applications. These molecules can be extracted from the plant or can be introduced into our diets through direct consumption. Many studies have explored the potential of genetic modification of plants, to produce resistant crops[2], products with better properties, or entirely new products. Genetic manipulation often scares people that are not familiar with these tools (like CRISPR), it is important to underline that often the modification itself is limited to few nucleotides (learn what nucleotides are), or that the introduction of larger sequences can be performed reliably, and in specific positions of the genome, to avoid negative effects on genes downstream the mutation. As a personal comment, I would also add that genetic modification of plants, in particular food, has always been performed, even on products that are now available in the market[3], the difference is that now, this technology has reached much higher levels of precision.

Medical biotechnology: The very same tools that are used for studying cell metabolism, the structure of complex biomolecules and modifying DNA sequences, can be applied also in the medical field. These studies are often focused on the creation of new, more precise, and reliable methods of diagnostics, tissue engineering, but also on the development of gene therapy, defined as the introduction, removal or modification of genetic material, as therapy for genetic disorders.

Fermentation biotechnology: A wide variety of proteins and other biomolecules are today produced through the process of fermentation; bacterial or yeast cells can produce the molecule of interest while consuming nutrients in the feedstock. These molecules could be naturally present in the genome of the organism (host), for example, the ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae (aka beer production), or, the information could be added through transformation. This term refers to the activity of introducing genes and DNA sequences inside a competent cell, usually by using a suitable vector (plasmid for example). The so introduced DNA information is read by the cell that, during fermentation, will produce our molecule. Other than producing all sorts of molecules, fermentation can be useful in the recycling of wastes that can be used as energy source by the organism, or for the degradation of complex polymers, like lignin. Another possibility is to produce, by an initial step of fermentation, a recombinant protein that is catalytically active (enzyme), and then, perform a second step of biocatalysis.

What I am studying

What I found fascinating about this subject when I was starting my master, is the incredible potential of these technologies in many industrial sectors. I didn’t really know how biotech processes could come in handy for the food, pharmaceutical, agricultural and chemical industries. Biotechnology makes our lives easier, cheaper and even more sustainable.

My master’s degree has a particular focus on biotech applications in the bioeconomy, it includes all industries and sectors, like the primary one, that uses biological resources. In bioeconomy fall a series of traditional sectors like agriculture, food production, and waste management, but it is often used in conjugation with the concept of the circular economy.  Here, in my opinion, we can see the true potential of biotechnology: by using and recycling bi-products and wastes of a primary process, we can reduce its impact, in terms of resource requirements. The recycling and re-purposing of wastes is a hot topic in the last years, and, as it’s becoming more and more important to shift away from a fossil-based economy, biological wastes, could give us an opportunity, at least as a temporary solution, before we will be able to rely entirely on renewable energies.

By keeping materials and resources in the cycle of the economy as usable and valuable products, we can reduce the number of wastes that require energy to be disposed of, or that could be harmful to the environment.  The production of energy directly from biomass allows us to reduce the amount of CO2 released in the environment, not because the fuel that we produce are less polluting on their own, but because the very same CO2 that is released, can be quickly re-absorbed and fixed as new biomass (short carbon cycle).

This scenario is very promising, but not all the processes that we use are or can be transformed easily in circular processes, there are several challenges that we need to face, to have a complete shift of paradigm.

The modification of pre-existing processes or the creation of new ones, cannot be done for the only purpose of being “environmentally friendly”, this shift needs also to give other types of advantages like better performances, lower long-term costs, or reduced energy requirements. The economical sustainability of bioprocesses is not trivial, they require lots of research and costs link to the creation of new technologies; this barrier of initial high costs could be trespassed by large companies, but is a big obstacle for smaller industries or for countries with low spending capacity. The development of new biotechnologies also opens a big discussion about the usage of patents and intellectual property, on products that could be beneficial for collectivity.

The introduction of complex biotech solutions may be not considered advantageous if there is a well-established and reliable process that is also economically feasible, in this case the bioprocess would cause higher costs (even for the final consumer) and would need an effort from the market to be accepted. As always is difficult for consumers to accept an apparent disadvantage in exchange for a positive effect on the collectivity/environment, and this gives us another point of reflection: the public perception of biotech tools may play a much higher impact on the introduction of these technologies, than the actual benefits that they may implement. This is particularly true not for processes, but for products that the consumer use in everyday life, for example, food.

Finally, at the base of each biotech implementation, there are several analyses on its impact from many different points of view: type of resources and their availability on the market, the environmental effect, analysis of risks, time requirements, and so on. These types of analysis are not always easy to perform, an example is the analysis of the environmental impact of a process, it requires a broad understanding of the production chain, and a the choice on the parameters to consider (water usage, CO2 equivalents, usage of land, emission of pollutants…) that are not always easily compared.

In conclusion, biotechnology allows us to solve some of the problems that weigh on our generation, like food security and climate change, but also gives us the possibility of developing new products, and even if the implementation of biotech solutions is not always easy to perform, the benefits could overcome the disadvantages. I’m glad to have chosen this subject to continue my studies and I’m fascinated by all the different applications that could be possible, and that I discover while digging a little bit further in each topic, thanks, also to this blog.