Biotechnology You

Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology

Volume 13, Issue No. 2

We’re pleased to bring you the spring issue of Your World magazine: Industrial andEnvironmental Biotechnology. New and exciting career opportunities are developing as thebiotechnology industry finds ways to manufacture and produce more eco-friendly productsand materials for you, the consumer. Read about the efforts and strides being made and howindustry and the environment are benefiting from this progress. Imagine yourself in a careerwhere you can take an active role in

• Finding faster, safer, cleaner ways to manufacture everyday products.• Finding renewable sources for energy.• Cleaning up and protecting the environment.• Using computers to find ways to put data to practical use.

Discover the possibilities!

Paul A. Hanle, PresidentBiotechnology Institute

2 Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology

Industrial-Strength

PublisherThe Biotechnology Institute

EditorKathy Frame

Managing EditorLois M. Baron

DesignKaren Dodds, Dodds Design

Cover Illustration©2004 Lola & BekALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Advisory BoardDon DeRosa, Ed.D., CityLab, Director of Education, Boston University Medical College

Lori Dodson, Ph.D.,North Montco Technical Career Center

Anthony Guiseppi-Elie, Sc.D.,Virginia Commonwealth University

Lucinda (Cindy) Elliott, Ph.D.,Shippensburg University

Mark Temons,Muncy Junior/Senior High School

Sharon Terry, M.A., President, Genetic Alliance

Scientific AdvisersRoopa Ghimikar,Genencor International, Inc.

Pat Gruber andDouglas Cameron,Cargill Dow

Sharon L. Haynie, Ph.D.,DuPont Central Research

Oliver Peoples,Metabolix, Inc.

John Carroll andGlenn E. Nedwin, Ph.D., MBA,Novozymes North America, Inc.

Volume 13, Issue No. 2 Spring 2004

Biotechnology InstituteThe Biotechnology Institute is an independent, national, nonprofitorganization dedicated to education and research about the pre-sent and future impact of biotechnology. Our mission is to engage,excite, and educate the public, particularly young people, aboutbiotechnology and its immense potential for solving humanhealth, food, and environmental problems. Published biannually,Your World is the premier biotechnology publication for 7th- to12th-grade students. Each issue provides an in-depth explorationof a particular biotechnology topic by looking at the science ofbiotechnology and its practical applications in health care, agricul-ture, the environment, and industry. Please contact theBiotechnology Institute for information on subscriptions (individ-ual, teacher, or library sets). Some back issues are available.

AcknowledgmentsThe Biotechnology Institute would like to thank the PennsylvaniaBiotechnology Association, which originally developed YourWorld, and Jeff Alan Davidson, founding editor.

The Biotechnology Institute acknowledges with deep gratitude thefinancial support of Centocor, Inc., and Ortho Biotech.

Industrial-Strength Biotechnology ...................................................................................... 2Home Sweet Biotech ............................................................................................................ 4A Biotech Toolbox ................................................................................................................ 6A Sweet Deal for the Environment ...................................................................................... 8Clean Sweep..........................................................................................................................10Mr. Catalyst—The Unsung Hero! ........................................................................................ 12Career Profile Craig Venter .................................................................................................. 14Activity Make Your own ‘Green’ Plastic! ..............................................................................15Glossary and Resources ......................................................................................................16

Main Points

On the coverClockwise: Bioengineered yeast and corn are used in food;NatureWorks factory in Nebraska; fructose-6-phosphate molecule; waste-degrading bacteria in bacilli (rod-shaped) and cocci (spherical) forms (SciMAT/Photo Researchers, Inc.); plastic container made of polylactide.

For more informationBiotechnology Institute1840 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 202Arlington, VA [email protected]: (703) 248-8681Fax: (703) 248-8687

©2004 Biotechnology Institute. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Contents

Henry’s typical morning: He eats a bowl of cornflakes while Sarah, his sister, scans the headlines and his dad starts the laundry.Meanwhile, his mother givesantibiotics to the baby andvitamins to everyone elseto keep them healthy.When they see the schoolbus roll up, Henry and Sarahwill dash aboard.

Nature inspires biotechnology’s improvements in productionand variety of goods. Counterclockwise from hand: Cornflakes,a spider’s silk-spinning glands, oil-eating Pseudomonasmicrobes, barnacles, corn, sea sponges, diatom.

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environmental pollution. Most laundrydetergent contains enzymes to get out tough

stains, and specially selected and designedbacteria can help manufacture some vitaminsand antibiotics, replacing laborious andexpensive chemical synthesis. And the schoolbus may someday start running on “biofuel”harvested by microbes from agriculturalwaste.

All these advances come through biotech-nology. Many more will be available soon,from designer clothes made from corn tomedical devices made by microbes.

Biotechnology is the use and modificationof living organisms or their products for com-mercial purposes. Industrial biotechnologyuses and changes living organisms to aid inmanufacturing. Everyone’s family—includingyours—is already benefiting from industrialbiotech.

Environmental biotechnology helps cleanup the wastes traditional manufacturingmethods produce (see “Clean Sweep”).Scientists can inject microbes into the groundto clean up or deactivate groundwater pollu-

tion. This process, called bioremediation,modifies bacteria that naturally break downtoxins so we can clean up chemical spills,waste dumps, and even radioactive waste sitesfaster and more efficiently than without theirhelp.

But even these uses will pale when com-pared with developments likely to come topass in the next decade or two.� Spider silk is stronger than steel, and

unlike nylon, is not made of fossil fuels. Onecompany has made it possible for goats toexpress a spider silk protein in their milk.The protein is then extracted to manufacture“BioSteel” fibers, which the company hopesto use in medical sutures (stitches), bullet-proof vests, and other products.� Barnacles produce a superstrong glue

that holds them tightly to rocks. Unlikemost other glues, it dries underwater.

Barnacle-derived glues may find uses insealing teeth against cavities or mend-ing broken bones.� Sea sponges make fibers that carrylight just like today’s high-tech fiber-optic cables, only they don’t break as

easily. Can these fibers be used to makethe next generation of cables?� The genetic secrets behind the highly

intricate patterns produced by microscopicsea creatures called diatoms might be usefulfor micromanufacturing computer chips,medical devices, and other complex structures.� A wealth of energy is locked up in agri-

cultural waste, such as manure and cornstalks. By treating the stalks with enzymessuch as cellulase, they can be broken downinto simple sugars. Researchers hope todevelop faster, tougher, and more efficientenzymes, producing sugars that will be theraw materials for chemicals currently madefrom oil, including synthetic fibers and manyplastics. Most exciting is the potential for cre-ating biofuels—plant-derived fuels that willpower the vehicles of the next decade, includ-ing the yellow school bus Henry’s childrenwill ride.

Combining biotechnology with building ormanipulating matter at a molecular level—resulting in nanobiotechnology—offers thepotential of extremely clean, precise manufac-turing at a molecular level.

Industrial biotechnology is poised tochange the way hundreds of things are manu-factured and to do so with less damage to theenvironment than today’s technologies. Soread on to find out how industrial biotechnol-ogy is becoming more and more a part ofyour world.

—Richard Robinson

Your World

Biotechnology

The scenario abovecould easily be from20 years ago as this

morning.But today, Henry’sclothes are madewith three kinds

of enzymes, andhis cornflakes con-

tain bioengineeredcorn, which requires lesspesticide to grow than con-ventional corn.

Genetically engineeredbacteria might have helpedprocess the paper the news isprinted on, greatly reducing


alternative, a solution of amylase enzymesproduced by cultured bacteria.

The sneakers under your bed? The leatherindustry is one of many that use enzymesextensively. Biocatalysts similar to enzymesfound in saliva can turn animal hide intoleather while producing half as much pollu-tion as chemical tanning. Enzymes are alsoused to make leather supple, glossy, orsueded. Approximately 60 percent of the rawmaterial winds up as waste, and biotechnologyis already tackling the job of reducing that.

Go down the hall to the bathroom.Odds are, your contact lens cleaner,

shampoo, and cosmetics all containproteins created by fermentingmicroorganisms.You hear the washing machinerunning as you head toward thekitchen. Years ago enzymesreplaced polluting phosphates in

laundry detergents. Biotech-derived enzymes also remove stains

and improve detergents’ perfor-

How many common productsare already affected byindustrial biotech?

Home Sweet BiotechQuick—name a product of biotechnol-

ogy. Did a food or perhaps a medicinecome to mind? Those are good

answers, but that’s only the tip of theiceberg. Every day you use, eat, or wearsomething made with biotechnology.Let’s start in your closet.

The clothing industry puts biotechto work in a lot of ways. Stonewashedjeans, for instance, involve severalbiotech processes (see sidebar). Toprevent thread from breaking as itis woven, it’s first passed through astarchy paste, a step called “sizing.”The starch must be removed fromthe fabric before it can be dyed, printed,or processed further, which used to bedone by washing the material with strongacids. Now textile mills can use a safer Xylanase Molecule

5Your World

mance in mineral-rich “hard”water. Clothes can be washed inlower temperatures—savingenergy—and with mixtures thatare gentler on the fabric and theenvironment.

In the kitchen, you find thesink clogged. Yuck! But you can use a draincleaner containing enzymes or whole organ-isms that break down protein, fats, andgreases.

Feel like making a sandwich? Your breadstays fresh longer because an anti-stalingamylase enzyme modifies the structure ofstarch so that it stays moist. Your bread maygo moldy before it goes stale!

All cheese is a biotech product, and abouthalf of the world’s cheese is made by biotech-derived enzymes. And that high-fructose cornsyrup in the soda you’re drinking with thesandwich is often made with biotechnologyenzyme processing.

Another example: fermentation shortensthe production of vitamins C and B2.

Other industries rely onenzymes for making fruit juice,wine, brewing, distilling, oilsand fats, paper and pulp, andanimal food.

Obviously, you can findbiotechnology in the manufac-

ture of many products already. Companies arewell on the way to expanding the productsthat bring biotechnology up close and per-sonal. For example, a new kind of polyester,using a bio-based process to manufacture 1,3-propanediol from glucose, will be better thantraditional polyester in fit and comfort, soft-ness, dyeability, resilience, and stretch recov-ery. The polymers used for this polyester mayalso be used to create new forms of plastics.

Now and tomorrow, industrial biotechnol-ogy is improving everyday products and theenvironmental effect they have as they aremade, used, and disposed of. Next time some-one asks what biotechnology has to do withyour life, your answer will be a lot longer!

—Bruce Goldfarb

Fun FactYou can thank biotech for no-calorieartificial sweeteners—aspartame

(sold as Equal, NutraSweet), acesulfame potassium, neotame,

saccharin, and sucralose (Splenda).

From-the-HipScience

You may take a comfy pair ofblue jeans for granted, but alot of science went into mak-ing them.

The cotton from which thedenim material was wovenmay have been geneticallymodified to contain the Btgene. The gene produces aprotein that kills insects, mak-ing it resistant to crop pestsand reducing the need tospray with insecticides.

Cotton thread is treatedwith amylase enzymes toremove starch sizing, andother enzymes to enhance theintensity of dyes. The use ofenzymes to process fibers andtextiles is gaining favorbecause they are nontoxic andkinder to the environment.

The jeans are washed incellulase enzymes, whichbreak down the cellulose polymers of plant tissue, to produce a stonewashedlook and a softer feel.Laccases provide environmentally safebleaching ofdenim.—B.G.

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Humans are industriouscreatures. We explore ourworld, we create art and

music, and above all, we makethings—from computers tozebra-striped backpacks, thingsto make us more comfortable . . .smarter . . . safer . . . and onand on.

From the Stone Age to the Age ofBiotechnology, we have used our best scienceto improve our ability to make things. Today,it’s little wonder that the science making thebiggest impact on industry is biology. Cells,life’s fundamental units, are experts at manu-facturing all manner of complex and valuablethings, which humans can use as productsthemselves or employ in making other thingsmore easily, efficiently, or cheaply. Using cellsand their products to manufacture things iscalled industrial biotechnology. Putting themto work on preventing or cleaning up pollu-tion caused by people’s activities is calledenvironmental biotechnology.

Using cells effectively requires knowing alot about them, including what they need togrow, how they produce the material we’reinterested in, and what conditions make themproduce more of it.

The study of all an organism’s genes iscalled genomics, and the study of all its pro-teins is called proteomics. Genomics and pro-

A Biotech ToolboxWhat is industrial biotechnology,

and what is the basic technology?

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teomics produce mountains ofimportant information aboutthe cell. Bioinformatics usescomputers for organizing andanalyzing all that information.Together, genomics, proteomics,and bioinformatics provide powerful insightsinto how cells work and how they can bemade to work for us.

Putting the Tools to Work: CellulasesLet’s see an example of how genomics, pro-

teomics, and bioinformatics areused to solve a real problem inindustrial biotechnology: find-

ing and developing better cellulases, a type ofenzyme that converts cellulose to sugar.

Cellulose is a major component of all plantcells. It is made of many sugar moleculeslinked in long chains. But cellulose doesn’ttaste sweet because we don’t have an enzymecalled cellulase to break the chains down intothe individual sugars.

Having your own cellulase gene might notbe all that useful (although it would allowyou to get energy from snacking on grass orleaves!). But industry could put cellulase towork. Finding a cheap and reliable way tobreak down cellulose could allow agriculturalwastes to be turned easily into sugars. Sugarscan be turned into fuel for cars and serve asthe starting material for making many chemi-cals that currently come from oil.

While animals don’t have a cellulase gene,many types of fungi do. The biotechnologyindustry is already using a few types of cellu-lase. But current cellulases are too sensitive tochanges in temperature, pH, or other condi-tions to be used in all the ways imagined forcellulase. Finding new cellulases, or makingthe current ones more robust, could open uphuge opportunities in industrial biotechnol-ogy. This is where genomics, proteomics, andbioinformatics come in.

First, a researcher might start by determin-ing the sequence of the amino acids (buildingblocks of proteins) that make up a particularcellulase. This is one of the major tasks inproteomics.

One way to do this is by mass spectrome-try, which determines the mass (the property

that gives a body weight in agravitational field) of molecu-lar fragments. By chopping theprotein up in different ways,and calculating the mass ofeach set of fragments, the

researcher can usually puzzle out the identityof each fragment and how they fit together.Bioinformatics speeds things up here. Theresearcher can draw on proteomic databases,which contain sequence information frommany other proteins, to pick out commonsequence patterns.

From the cellulase protein sequence, shecan deduce something about the cellulasegene sequence. With this, she can searchgenomic databases that contain whole or par-tial genomes of fungi, looking for a match.

She might not find the exact sequence, butshe may come close enough to identify genesthat code for cellulases in these other organ-isms. One or more of these might be less sen-sitive to temperature or other conditions, andtherefore more suitable for widespread use.The researcher can then isolate that gene, orhave it built, put it into a well-known, fast-growing organism already in use (such asyeast or bacteria), and determine if this cellu-lase better suits her needs.

Another approach is to modify the gene forthe cellulase she already has. Proteomic analy-sis can determine the protein’s structure,which may reveal why it is so sensitive.Changing the gene sequence might improvethe structure. The researcher might get cluesfor what to do next by looking at proteins in“extremophiles,” those hardy bacteria andother creatures that live in extreme condi-tions. Genomic and proteomic databases ofextremophiles are available for this purpose.

Many other questions will remain, includ-ing how the cell will respond to this new geneand how to stimulate it to make the most pro-tein. Other genomic and proteomic tools helpanswer these questions. Newer and bettertools, combined with faster and smarter waysof asking these questions and making sense ofthe answers, will keep genomics, proteomics,and bioinformatics at the forefront of indus-trial biotechnology.

—Richard Robinson

Tools forListening to theSymphony of Life

If we think of a living, activecell as a performance by asymphony orchestra, the cell’sgenome is the orchestra,which contains many differentinstruments—the genes. Justas each instrument makes acertain sound, each genemakes a certain kind of pro-tein. Following this analogy,genomics tries to explain whatall the genes (instruments)are, when they are used tomake protein (played to makesounds), what protein (sound)each makes, and how theactivity of one gene affectsactivity of all the others in thegenome (orchestra).

Proteomics tries to understandwhat each protein is (includingits exact “note-for-note” chem-ical structure), how much of itis made, and how it interactswith other proteins.Bioinformatics tries to orga-nize and analyze this vastamount of biological data,writing down the score ofmusic, so to speak, so otherscan use this knowledge formore research. —R.R.

Career Pointer ➲ To work in industrial biotechnology, be prepared to includemore than one field of science in your studies!

Enzyme: A proteinthat speeds up a

chemical reactionin a cell.

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Fun FactAnimals that are ruminants,

like cows, contain bacteria in their stomachs that provide

cellulase enzyme complexesthrough fermentation.


A Sweet Deal for the Environment

E ver think about where your afternoon snackcomes from? For instance, the milk and fruit in ayogurt container are produced on farms (hey,

that’s an easy one), but what about the plastic carton?For the past 50 years, that question had one answer: chemi-

cals derived from petroleum. This reliance on oil has pollutedthe globe and affected national policies. But today, the samecorn that feeds dairy cattle is being used to manufacture softdrink cups, candy wrappers, salad bar containers, and muchmore.

At a new Nebraska factory, field corn provides the rawmaterial for making PLA (polylactide), a degradable substanceused to make packaging peanuts that dissolve in water as wellas fibers for clothing, pillows, and comforters. Cargill DowLLC, the company that operates the Nebraska factory,calls its product NatureWorks PLA. PLA is the firstcommercially marketed “biomaterial,” that is, an indus-trial product (other than traditional foods and naturalfibers) made using biological processes and raw materi-als from renewable biological sources, such as agricul-tural crops.

Bioplastic’s Corny StoryEach day, the train brings bushels of corn from throughout

the Midwest to a corn milling plant.The milling plant cooksthe corn for 30 to 40 hours at 122° Fahrenheit to soften it.Then, machines grind and screen the softened corn kernels toproduce corn starch. Enzymes convert the corn starch into liq-uid dextrose, a type of sugar.

Piped to a lactic acid plant next door, the dextrose goes into10 fermentation tanks, each of which holds about five railcars’worth of corn. Fermenting liquid dextrose is similar to the waywine or beer is made. At the Nebraska factory, microorganismsbreak down the dextrose and produce lactic acid. To keep thefermentation process going, plant workers feed the organismswith sugar and vitamins. If the “bugs” are kept happy and wellfed, they keep reproducing and make large amounts of lacticacid.

The lactic acid is piped next door to the PLA plant. There itis heated to remove water, like thickening maple syrup. Thetemperature is then turned up, and even more water is boiledaway. The resulting product, called a pre-polymer, is made upof relatively short chains of about 10 lactic acid molecules.

How is industrial biotechhelping us decrease the use of petroleum?

Lactic Acid (from Glucose)

Lactide Monomers

Ring

Polylactide Polymer (Plastic)

A Sample of Products

IndustrialProcesses

Microorganisms

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Did You Know...?

One of the earliest uses of PLA softdrink cups was at the 2002 WinterOlympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Because PLA breaks down into carbondioxide and water in commercial

compost piles (where the temperatureis monitored and maintained about140°F, with moisture), it is ideal forfood containers used for a crowd,

such as at concerts or sports events.Normally food has to be separatedfrom containers; PLA can be com-posted along with food scraps—

saving boatloads of money.Companies, like people, are more

likely to do the right thing to protectthe environment if it saves them

time or money!

Increasing the temperature and loweringthe pressure brings forth lactide, a chemicalcompound in the form of a ring made by clip-ping off two lactic acid units from the end ofthe pre-polymer chain. The lactide is then fedinto a reactor where the lactide rings arepopped open. The ends of these popped-openrings are highly reactive, and when theybump into one another, they hook up to formlong chains of lactic acid units. The resultingpolymer of lactic acid is known as PLA. A pel-letizer forms the hot, molten PLA into littleBB-size pellets that are sold to be made intovarious articles, such as cups, trays, films, andfibers.

The scientists and engineers of CargillDow were the first to figure out how to com-bine the fermentation and polymerizationprocesses in an affordable way that makes theresulting bioplastic work as well (or better!)than petroleum-derived plastics. To make aPLA yogurt carton that weighs about a quarterof an ounce takes a bit more than half anounce of corn, and more than three weeks tocomplete all the various steps of the plastic-making process. The PLA plant can produce35,000 pounds of the material per hour—almost 400 metric tons in 24 hours.

Middle East vs. MidwestSome experts predict that industrial

biotechnology will be the “third wave” ofbiotechnology—reshaping manufacturing justas biotechnology has already transformedmedicine and agriculture. One study esti-mates that sales of biotech-based chemicalswill triple in less than a decade, rising from$50 billion in 2003 to $140 billion by 2010.

Three factors drive this shift:Concern about dependence on foreign oil.

The U.S. government sponsors research onalternatives to petroleum, including some $75million awarded by the Department of Energyfor research and development of so-calledbiorefineries. Biorefineries are facilities thatcan produce chemicals, fuels, and electricityand heat from renewable, plant-based rawmaterials within a single facility, much ascurrent refineries do using petroleum.

Environmental concerns. Most biologicallybased industrial processes consume less rawmaterials, energy, and water than equivalentchemical processes and produce little or notoxic wastes to contaminate the environment.For instance, the NatureWorks PLA processuses 20 to 50 percent less fossil fuel thantechniques used to make petroleum-basedplastics.

Genetic technology. Discovering the DNAsequences that code for enzymes used inindustrial processes will spur the develop-ment of more effective biocatalysts.

Various companies are working to findeconomical biocatalysts that can break downthe cellulose found in agricultural wastes,such as corn stalks, rice hulls, and sawdust,into sugars. These sugars are more difficult toprocess than sugars from the starchy parts ofcrops. Companies would like to use cornstalks and leaves rather than corn kernels tomake PLA plastic.

These corn wastes can provide not onlythe raw material for manufacturing plastic,but also a fuel to make electricity and heatneeded to run the PLA plant. Combined withsome electricity from wind power, makingPLA from corn wastes could save more than90 percent of the fossil fuel needed to makeplastic from petroleum!

—Karen Holmes

What Is Life-Cycle Assessment?

When companies compare how much their products affect the environment, where do these statistics come from? One technique for scoring environmental performance is life-cycle assessment. As the name implies, these

assessments consider the environmental impacts a product has at every stage of its life, from how much energy is used (and waste given off) extracting raw materials to how the product is disposed of.

The science of conducting life-cycle assessments is relatively young and highly complex. Decisions and assumptions made at each step make a big difference in the numbers assigned to products or predicted for them.

For instance, analyzing the data collected about every stage of the product’s life can be tricky. If one process (for instance, milling the corn) yields several products (such as fats and fibers as well as corn starch), how much of the corn mill’s total environmental impact do you attribute to each product?

Some judgments can be controversial, such as how to combine long lists of environmental impacts into a few categories and which of these categories should be given the greatest weight in evaluating a product or process.

Despite these uncertainties, many companies find life-cycle assessment a valuable tool to see where their productsdo well and where improvements are needed. If you care about protecting the environment, one way you can make adifference is to pursue a career in one or more fields that provide the expertise needed for life-cycle assessments, suchas engineering, biology, chemistry, environmental science, or economics. –K.H.


n 1914, the city ofManchester, England,became the first city

to use microbes to treatits sewage.

Today biotechnology can not only helpclean up environmental messes but also keepproblems from developing in the first place. Itcan do everything from keeping the water

hazard at your local miniature golfcourse free of pond scum tohelping the world put a stop to

global warming.

Cleaning Up MessesThe treatment of waste-

water in all its forms—fromseptic tanks to industrialoutflow to runoff fromdairy, hog, and poultry

farms—is one of the mostcommon uses of environmental

biotechnology.One approach to wastewater treatment

combines microorganisms with nutrients thathelp the microbes thrive and reproduce inharsh environments. The microbes breakdown the hazardous wastes, rendering themharmless in the process. A happy side effect isthat the treated water typically smells a wholelot better, too.

Not all products tackle manmade pollu-tants. Some can help control algae growth indrinking water reservoirs, aquaculture facili-ties, irrigation canals, hydroelectric plants, orthe local pond—anywhere that algae inter-feres with the water’s use in industry, recre-ation, or landscaping. The introducedmicrobes outcompete the algae for nutrientsin the water and produce enzymesthat break down the algae’s cellwalls. As debris starts floating tothe surface, the microbesdigest it, too, resulting inclearer water.

A similar bioremediationprocess can take care of reallynasty stuff, like oil spills.Whether it’s an oil spill from ashipwreck, a leak from a gas sta-tion, or simply a clogged grease trapin a restaurant’s kitchen sink, theapproaches are similar.

Some cleanups use bioaugmentation,adding microorganisms or their enzymes tobreak down pollutants.

Others use biostimulation, providingnutrients to encourage the growth of microor-

ganisms that are already present.Microbes presented with a new

food source—such as oil—snarfas much as possible as fast aspossible, just like a kid goingcrazy in a candy shop. In theprocess, the microbes canrun out of the nutrients that

they need to survive andthrive. The microbes can’t sur-

vive on oil alone any more than akid can eating only candy.

Biostimulation restores those nutrients sothe microbes can keep up their good work.

How can industrialbiotechnology protectthe environment?

M I C R O B E

absorbs oxygen,other nutrients

produces CO2 and water

digests food(contaminates)

releasesenzymes

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Just as washing machines and detergent help clean our clothes,

Finding New SolutionsBiotechnology can clean up messes. It can

also help prevent them. Take biomass energy, which comes from

plant remains, animal wastes, and anythingelse organic. Although humans havebeen using biomass energy since thefirst person lit a cooking fire,some people hope biomass willbecome a major source of fueland electricity.

The most common com-mercial form of biomass energytoday is ethanol made from thestarch in corn. This isn’t as envi-ronmentally friendly as it sounds,thanks to the fertilizer, pesticides, andtractor fuel that it takes to grow corn.

In the future, however, biotechnology may

make it possible to get biomass energy notjust from grain but from cellulose. This “car-bohydrate crude oil,” as the Washington,D.C.–based Energy Future Coalition calls it,could come from stalks, husks, grass, ricestraw, pulp and paper residue, turkey manure,and other agricultural waste.

The National Renewable EnergyLaboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy,other government agencies, and various com-panies are working hard to find cheaper, moreefficient ways of converting biomass into fueland electricity—in other words, making bio-mass an economical alternative to petroleum.Once they achieve that goal, this renewableresource could reduce and eventually end ourdependence on petroleum.

Biomass energy could also help solve theproblem of global warming. That’s becausethe amount of carbon dioxide absorbed bybiomass as it’s created offsets the carbon diox-ide released during its combustion. Biomassenergy could also reduce the size of landfillsby transforming municipal wastes such asyard clippings, leaves, and tossed-out paperinto feedstock for biorefineries. (See “ASweet Deal,” p. 8.) Someday someone couldbe paying you for your lawn clippings!

Biotechnology also has a role to play inmaking industry not only cleaner but alsostronger. A report by the Organization forEconomic Cooperation and Developmentcalled The Application of Biotechnology toIndustrial Sustainability shows that biotech-

nology helps companies around theworld lower their costs. Biotech

products or processes can helpcompanies reduce the amountof water and energy they use,the amount of wastewaterthey produce, and the amountof greenhouse gasses they

emit.Every manufacturing process

involves tradeoffs, but biotechnol-ogy can play a part in cleaning up the

world and helping it stay clean.—Rebecca A. Clay

11Your World

Cleaning Up thePaper Industry

Look at a fresh sheet of paper,and you might think paper-making itself is just as clean.In reality, the pulp and paperindustry is notoriously hard onthe environment. Now biotech-nology is helping the industrybecome more environment-friendly, from start to finish.

Researchers at NorthCarolina State University, forexample, are genetically modi-fying aspen trees that couldone day serve as a crop to beharvested instead of forests.These trees not only growextra-fast but also contain lesslignin (the glue that holdstrees’ fibers together) andmore cellulose (the stuff theindustry wants).

Other researchers arereplacing electrical power withfungus power. Leave fungus,fungus food, and steamedwood chips together for twoweeks, and the chips get softand easier to grind into pulp.The result? A 30 percent dropin electricity usage.

Fungus and bacteria alsoplay a role in reducing theindustry’s use of toxic chemi-cals. You can substitute fun-gus- and bacteria-derivedenzymes for chlorinated chem-icals used to bleach pulp. Theenzymes remove part of thefiber hemi-cellulose, making iteasier to remove hard-to-bleach lignin while leaving thecellulose intact. That meansless chemical bleaching—andless water pollution.

—R.C.

Fun FactNitroreductase enzymes found in

spinach and buttermilk can changeexplosives such as TNT into less

dangerous substances. — Pacific Northwest National

Laboratory, 1998

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Career Profile

Once you’ve decoded the humangenome, what do you do for anencore? If you’re Craig Venter, you

set about saving the environment.Venter is best-known for his work on the

genetic blueprint known as the genome. Aspresident of Celera Genomics, Venter racedgovernment researchers to map the genes inhuman beings. The two groups finishedsimultaneously, proclaiming victory in 2000.

Venter has since spun off in several direc-tions. He is still chairman of the Institute forGenomic Research (TIGR), which he founded

in 1992. Now he heads three moreorganizations. The TIGR Centerfor the Advancement of Genomics

hopes to advance science by edu-cating policymakers, students,and others. The Institute for

Biological Energy Alternatives(IBEA) conducts environmental

research. And the J. Craig VenterScience Foundation provides supportto the three groups.

Venter’s work at IBEA is perhaps mosturgent. “After I finished sequencing thehuman genome,” he said, “I considered the

most important societal issues and decidedthat environmental problems were the mostpressing ones for our survival.”

The institute is taking a multi-prongedapproach. One goal is to use genomics toassess entire ecosystems and monitor changesinvisible to the naked eye. An avid sailor,Venter launched this new field of environ-mental genomics with a look at the SargassoSea. Relying on the once-controversial “shot-gun” technique he used for the humangenome, the effort used high-powered com-puters to reassemble random bits ofsequenced DNA.

The result? The discovery of at least 1,800new microbes and a million-plus genes—astounding biodiversity in an area oncethought relatively lifeless. “If you use DNAsequencing to look closely at seawater, youcan make more discoveries than all marinebiologists have made in the last decade,” saidVenter. “In a cup of seawater!”

Another goal is to find ways to keep car-bon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere andprevent global warming. Our society relies soheavily on burning oil and coal, Venterexplained, that we’ve exceeded the capacity ofmicro-organisms and plants to use the result-ing CO2. “We’re seeing if we can use genomictools to speed up organisms’ metabolism tocapture the CO2 at a rate that would helpundo the damage we’re doing,” he said.

Developing an eco-friendly fuel source,such as hydrogen, is yet another goal.Although hydrogen-production techniquesalready exist, they’re expensive. And in theUS, hydrogen is extracted from oil—a processthat itself produces CO2. Venter hopes insteadto harness biological power to produce hydro-gen or other clean fuels. “Many organismsproduce hydrogen and methane but not thelarge amounts required to run automobiles orairplanes,” he explained. IBEA has already cre-ated an artificial virus, a success that bringsthem closer to creating a customized, hydro-gen-producing microbe.

Venter’s early teachers probably never sus-pected their student would become a world-class scientist. Back then, Venter was morecommitted to surfing and girlfriends thanstudying. It wasn’t until he returned from astint as a medical corpsman in Vietnam thathe got serious. Intent on medical school, hegot hooked instead on basic science and wenton to earn a doctorate in physiology andpharmacology from the University ofCalifornia at San Diego.

Said Venter, “My career should give hopeto lots of parents!”

—Rebecca A. Clay

President and Chairman,Institute for BiologicalEnergy Alternatives

J. Craig Venter, Ph.D.

Cour

tesy

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Carbon Dioxide

15Your World

Make Your Own ‘Green‘ Plastic‘One of the most fun, as well as eye-opening and informative, ways of learning about green plasticsis to MAKE THEM YOURSELF! Yes, you can make biodegradable plastic in your own home, cheaply

and easily, using materials found in the home or in schools. Here’s how to make a transparentglass-like sheet that can be used in small picture frames as a substitute for glass or Plexiglas.

Safety Tips• Be careful around open flames if using a gas stove • Remember hot plates stay hot long after they have been

turned off • Use ovenproof mitts to handle hot substances • Keep all substances away from skin and eyes • Wear goggles • Wash hands before and after the activity.

In a heat-proof container, add 12.0 g (4 teaspoons)unflavored gelatin to 240 mL (1 cup) of a 1 percentglycerol solution (a 1 percent glycerol solution has 10 mL of glycerol for every liter of water, or 2 teaspoons of glycerol for every quart). Glycerol,also called glycerin, is often available in drugstores.

Keep stirring until there is no further dispersionof the components.

Using a hot plate or microwave,* heat the mixture to 95°C or to the first point of frothing, whichevercomes first. Stir again. There should be no visiblelumps. *If using a microwave, use a container thatis twice as large as the volume of liquid.

Carefully empty the mixture into a nonstickbrownie pan, approximately 25 cm x 15 cm (10 inches by 6 inches). If needed, you canspread out the mixture to cover the bottom of the pan.

Let the pan sit undisturbed for as long as it takes for the mixture to dry, which may be several days,depending on room temperature and humidity.

You can make a more flexible sheet byincreasing the relative amount of the plasti-cizer glycerol. There are many other formula-tions in the book Green Plastics, as well assuggestions for measuring some of the physi-cal properties of the sheets-like tensilestrength and their biodegradability.

Stevens, E. S.: Green Plastics.©2002 by Princeton University Press. Pub. By PUP.

Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.

What happens if I stir it for 1 minute versus 2? 3?Does it have to be stirred?

What if it is poured on a warm surface? cool? cold?

Does a hair dryer affect how the plastic forms? a drying oven?

What happens if it is heated to 10°C? 20°C?Is there a difference between heating with

a microwave and a hot plate?

What happens if I add more water? more gelatin? What happens if food coloring is added?

©20

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aura

Mar

r

The Biotechnology Institute thanksBrent Erickson and the followingmembers of the BiotechnologyIndustry Organization’s Environmentaland Industrial Section for sponsorshipof this issue:

CargillCargill Dow

CodexisDuPont

Genencor International, Inc.Metabolix, Inc.

Novozymes North America, Inc.and

The U.S. Department of EnergyOffice of BioMass

The Biotechnology Institute acknowledges with deep gratitude the financial support of Centocor, Inc.,and Ortho Biotech.

We thank our partner MdBio for fundingto distribute Your World to teachers inMaryland and Washington, D.C.

You’ll find—• Teacher’s guide• Links• Information on subscriptions and previous issues• Downloadable teacher’s guides for previous issues

These issues of Your World are available to download FREE—• Plant-Made Pharmaceuticals• Exploring the Human Genome• Gene Therapy• Environmental Biotechnology• Industrial Biotechnology• Health Care, Agriculture, and the Environment

Plantingfor the

Future

Volume 13, Issue No. 1

Plantingfor the

FuturePlant-Made

Pharmaceuticals

Biomass: Total mass of living material

in a given area. Plant and animal

waste used as fuel.

Biocatalysts: In bioprocessing, an

enzyme that activates or speeds

up a biochemical reaction.

Extremophile: Microorganisms that

live optimally at relatively extreme

levels of acidity, salinity, tempera-

ture or pressures; discovered

through bioprospecting.

Genetically Engineered Enzymes:

Enzymes derived from genetically

modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs

are obtained by changing the

genetic material of cells or organ-

isms so they can make new sub-

stances or perform new functions.

Renewable: Resources able to be

sustained or renewed indefinitely,

either because of inexhaustible

supplies or because of new

growth.

Sustainability: A goal that aims

toward preserving quality interac-

tions with the local environment,

economy, and social system.

Glossary

Evolution:Gene…GENEius…BioGENEius

Online Resources for Teacher’s GuideBiobased Industrial Products: Research and Commercialization Priorities

National Academies Press (2000); <www.nap.edu/catalog/5295.html>"Biomass Research," <www.nrel.gov/biomass/biorefinery.html>

"Biotechnology in the Leather Industry," U.K. Department of Trade and Industry,BIO-WISE, and BLC Leather Technology Centre

<www.biowise.org.uk/docs/2000/publications/leather.pdf>"Enzyme Technology," Martin Chaplin <www.lsbu.ac.uk/biology/enztech/index.html>

"Ethanol: Separating Fact from Fiction," U.S. Department of Energy<www.ott.doe.gov/biofuels/pdfs/factfict.pdf>

Mining & Minerals FAQ, Natural Resources Canada (2002)

<www.nrcan.gc.ca/biotechnology/english/m_faq7.html>"Nanotechnology," Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

<www.nanotec.org.uk/evidence/81aBBSRC.htm>BIO <www.bio.org> (click on "Industrial & Environmental")

BIOWISE <www.biowise.org>EuropaBio <www.europabio.org/pages/index.asp>

National Renewable Energy Laboratory <www.nrel.gov>

Resources

International Sponsor National Sponsor Southwest Regional Sponsor

The Biotechnology Institute awards thousands in CASHprizes to students (Grades 9 to 12) for biotechnologyscience research projects through the Aventis InternationalBioGENEius Challenge. This year, winners of the Northeastand Southwest regional challenges will meet to compete inSan Francisco June 5 to 7.

Prepare now for the 2005 BioGENEius Challenge inPhiladelphia. Contact your state coordinator by visiting <www.biotechinstitute.org/biogene.html>.

Documents

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