ethical aspects of biotech

risk assesments and biosafety of gmos

biotech impact

biosafety

risk analysis of GMOs

risk managements

impli,entation of regulatory frameworlks

Establish a working group on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) under the

committee on Environment and Natural resources for the purpose of addressing
GMO matters.

Harmonize the existing policy frameworks on GMOs including supporting

development of a common policy, legal, administrative and institutional
framework to deal with bio-safety and biotechnology.
risk assesment

enviromental biotech
Meaning of Environmental Biotechnology:

Environmental biotechnology in particular is the application of processes for the protection and
restoration of the quality of the environment.

Environmental biotechnology can be used to detect, prevent and remediate the emission of pollutants
into the environment in a number of ways.

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Solid, liquid and gaseous wastes can be modified, either by recycling to make new products, or by
purifying so that the end product is less harmful to the environment. Replacing chemical materials and
processes with biological technologies can reduce environmental damage.

In this way environmental biotechnology can make a significant contribution to sustainable

development. Environmental Biotechnology is one of today’s fastest growing and most practically useful
scientific fields. Research into the genetics, biochemistry and physiology of exploitable microorganisms is
rapidly being translated into commercially available technologies for reversing and preventing further
deterioration of the earth’s environment.

Objectives of Environmental Biotechnology (According to Agenda 21):

The aim of environmental biotechnology is to prevent, arrest and reverse environmental degradation
through the appropriate use of biotechnology in combination with other technologies, while supporting
safety procedures as a primary component of the programme.

Specific Objectives are:

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1. To adopt production processes that make optimal use of natural resources, by recycling biomass,
recovering energy and minimizing waste generation.

2. To promote the use of biotechnological techniques with emphasis on bioremediation of land and
water, waste treatment, soil conservation, reforestation, afforestation and land rehabilitation.

3. To apply biotechnological processes and their products to protect environmental integrity with a view
to long-term ecological security.

Use of biotechnology to treat pollution problems is not a new idea. Communities have depended on
complex populations of naturally occurring microbes for sewage treatment for over a century. Every
living organism—animals, plants, bacteria and so forth—ingests nutrients to live and produces a waste as
a by-product. Different organisms need different types of nutrients.

Certain bacteria thrive on the chemical components of waste products. Some microorganisms feed on
materials toxic to others. Research related environmental biotechnology is vital in developing effective
solutions for mitigating, preventing and reversing environmental damage with the help of these living
forms. Growing concern about public health and the deteriorating quality of the environment has
prompted the development of a range of new, rapid analytical devices for the detection of hazardous
compounds in air, water and land. Recombinant DNA technology has provided the possibilities for the
prevention of pollution and holds a promise for a further development of bioremediation.

Applications of Environmental Biotechnology:

Environmental protection is an integral component of sustainable development. The environment is

threatened every day by the activities of man. With the continued increase in the use of chemicals,
energy and non-renewable resources by an expanding global population, associated environmental
problems are also increasing. Despite escalating efforts to prevent waste accumulation and to promote
recycling, the amount of environmental damage caused by over-consumption, the quantities of waste
generated and the degree of unsustainable land use appear likely to continue growing.

The remedy can be achieved, to some extent, by the application of environmental biotechnology
techniques, which use living organisms in hazardous waste treatment and pollution control.
Environmental biotechnology includes a broad range of applications such as bioremediation, prevention,
detection and monitoring, genetic engineering for sustainable development and better quality of living.

Bioremediation:

Bioremediation refers to the productive use of microorganisms to remove or detoxify pollutants, usually
as contaminants of soils, water or sediments that otherwise intimidate human health. Bio treatment, bio
reclamation and bio restoration are the other terminologies for bioremediation. Bioremediation is not a
new practice. Microorganisms have been used for many years to remove organic matter and toxic
chemicals from domestic and manufacturing waste discharge.

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However, the focus in environmental biotechnology for fighting different pollution is on bioremediation.
The vast majority of bioremediation applications use naturally occurring microorganisms to identify and
filter toxic waste before it is introduced into the environment or to clean up existing pollution problems.

Some more advanced systems using genetically modified microorganisms are being tested in waste
treatment and pollution control to remove difficult-to-degrade materials. Bioremediation can be
performed in situ or in specialized reactors (ex situ). Bioremediation by microorganisms need
appropriate environment for the clean up of the polluted site.

Addition of nutrients, terminal electron acceptors (O2/NO2), temperature, moisture to promote the
growth of a particular organism may be required for the microbial activity in the polluted site.
Bioremediation operations may be made either on-site or off-site, in situ or ex situ. Bioremediation has a
vast potential to clean up water and soil contaminated by a variety of hazardous pollutants, domestic
wastes, radioactive wastes etc.

Biological cleaning procedures make use of the fact that most organic chemicals are subjected to
enzymatic attack of living organisms. The most common approach is the use of enzymes as substitute
chemical catalysts. Significant reduction or complete elimination of harsh chemicals may be achieved as
is observed in leather, textile processing and pulp and paper industry.

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Only 1-2g of hemicellulose is substituted for 10-15 kg of chlorine to treat 1 tonne of pulp, thereby
significantly reducing the chlorinated organic effluent. Environmental protection and remediation
presently combine biotechnological, chemical, physical and engineering methods.

The relative importance of biotechnology is increasing as scientific knowledge and methods improve. Its
lower requirements for energy and chemicals, combined with lower production of minor wastes, make it
an increasingly desirable alternative to more traditional chemical and physical methods of remediation.
Applications of bioremediation for maintenance of environment are several. In this chapter a few are
dealt with as handling of waste water and industrial effluents, soil and land treatment, air and waste
gases management.

Waste Water and Industrial Effluents:

Water pollution is a serious problem in many countries of the world. Rapid industrialisation and
urbanization have generated large quantities of waste water that resulted in deterioration of surface
water resources and ground water reserves. Biological, organic and inorganic pollutants contaminate the
water bodies.

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In many cases, these sources have been rendered unsafe for human consumption as well as for other
activities such as irrigation and industrial needs. This illustrates that degraded water quality can, in
effect, contribute to water scarcity as it limits its availability for both human use and the ecosystem.
Treatment of the waste water before disposal is of urgent concern worldwide.

In sewage treatment plants microorganisms are used to remove the more common pollutants from
waste water before it is discharged into rivers or the sea. Increasing industrial and agricultural pollution
has led to a greater need for processes that remove specific pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus
compounds, heavy metals and chlorinated compounds.

Methods include aerobic, anaerobic and physico-chemical processes in fixed-bed filters and in
bioreactors in which the materials and microbes are held in suspension. Sewage and other waste waters
would, if left untreated, undergo self-purification but the process requires long exposure periods. To
speed up this process bioremediation measures are used.

However, Five Key Stages are Recognized in Wastewater Treatment:

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a) Preliminary treatment – grit, heavy metals and floating debris are removed.

b) Primary treatment – suspended matters are removed.

c) Secondary treatment – bio-oxidize organic materials by activities of aerobic and anaerobic

microorganisms.

d) Tertiary treatment – specific pollutants are removed (ammonia and phosphate).

e) Sludge treatment – solids are removed (final stage).

Aerobic Biological Treatment:

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Trickling filters, rotating biological contactors or contact beds, usually consist of an inert material
(rocks/ash/ wood/ metal) on which the microorganisms grow in the form of a complex biofilm. These
have been used for more than 70 years for sewage and waste water treatment. In these processes the
degradable organic matter is oxidized by the microorganisms to CO2 that can be vented to the
atmosphere.

Activated Sludge Process:

This process is used for treatment and removal of dissolved and biodegradable wastes, such as organic
chemicals, petroleum refining wastes textile wastes and municipal sewage. The microorganisms in
activated sludge generally are composed of 70-90% organic and 10-30% inorganic matters.

The microorganisms found in this sludge are usually bacteria, fungi, protozoa and rotifers. Petroleum
hydrocarbons are degraded by species of bacteria (Acinetobacter, Mycobacteria, Pseudomonas etc.),
yeasts, Cladosporium and Scolecobasidium. Pesticides (aldrin, dieldrin, parathion, malathion) are
detoxified by fungus Xylaria xylestrix. Pseudomonas (a predominant soil microrganism) can detoxify
organic compounds like hydrocarbons, phenols, organophosphates, polychlorinated biphenyls and
polycyclic aromatics.

Utilisation of immobilized cyanobacterium Phormidium laminosum in batch and continuous flow

bioreactors for the removal of nitrate, nitrite and phosphate from water has been reported by Garbisu et
al. (2003). Blanco et al. (2003) showed the biosorption of heavy metal by Phormidium laminosum
immobilised in micro-porous polymeric matrices. Photo-bioreactors are currently used to grow algae and
cyanobacteria under closely controlled environmental conditions, with a view to making high-value
products (such as beta-carotene and gamma-linoleic acid), designing efficient effluent treatment
processes, and providing new energy sources.

The costs of wastewater treatment can be reduced by the conversion of wastes into useful products.
Sulphur metabolizing bacteria can remove heavy metals and sulphur compounds from waste streams of
the galvanization industry and reused. Most anaerobic wastewater treatment systems produce useful
biogas.

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In some cases, the by-products of the pollution-fighting microorganisms are themselves useful.
Methane, for example, can be derived from a form of bacteria that degrades sulphur liquor, a waste
product of paper manufacturing.

Soil and Land Treatment:

As the human population grows, its demand for food from crops increases, making soil conservation
crucial. Deforestation, over-development, and pollution from man-made chemicals are just a few of the
consequences of human activity and carelessness. The increasing amounts of fertilizers and other
agricultural chemicals applied to soils and industrial and domestic waste-disposal practices, led to the
increasing concern of soil pollution. Pollution in soil is caused by persistent toxic compounds, chemicals,
salts, radioactive materials, or disease-causing agents, which have adverse effects on plant growth and
animal health.

Many species of fungi can be used for soil bioremediation. Lipomyces sp. can degrade herbicide
paraquat. Rhodotorula sp. can convert benzaldehyde to benzyl alcohol. Candida sp. degrades
formaldehyde in the soil. Aspergillus niger and Chaetomium cupreum are used to degrade tannins
(found in tannery effluents) in the soil thereby helping in plant growth.

Phanerochaete chrysosporium has been used in bioremediation of soils polluted with different chemical
compounds, usually recalcitrant and regarded as environmental pollutants. Decrease of PCP
(Pentachlorophenol) between 88-91% within six weeks was observed in presence of Phanerochaete
chrysosporium.

Bioremediation of contaminated soil has been used as a safe, reliable, cost-effective and environment
friendly method for degradation of various pollutants. This can be effected in a number of ways, either in
situ or by mechanically removing the soil for treatment elsewhere.

In situ treatments include adding nutrient solutions, introducing microorganisms and ventilation. Ex situ
treatment involves excavating the soil and treating it above ground, either as compost, in soil banks, or in
specialised slurry bioreactors. Bioremediation of land is often cheaper than physical methods and its
products are largely harmless.

During biological treatment soil microorganisms convert organic pollutants to CO2, water and biomass.
Degradation can take place under aerobic as well as under anaerobic conditions. Soil bioremediation can
also be accomplished with the help of bioreactors. Degradation can take place under aerobic as well as
under anaerobic conditions. Soil bioremediation can also be accomplished with the help of bioreactors.
Liquids, vapours, or solids in a slurry phase are treated in a reactor. Microbes can be of natural origin,
cultivated or even genetically engineered.

Research in the field of environmental biotechnology has made it possible to treat soil contaminated
with mineral oils. Solid-phase technologies are used for petroleum-contaminated soils that are
excavated, placed in a containment system through which water and nutrients percolate. Biological
degradation of oils has proved commercially viable both on large and small scales, in situ and ex situ.

In situ soil bioremediation involve the stimulation of indigenous microbial populations (e.g. by adding
nutrients or aeration). In this process the environmental conditions for the biological degradation of
organic pollutants are optimized as far as possible. Oxygen has to be supplied by artificial aeration or by
adding electron acceptors such as nitrates or oxygen releasing compounds. Ozone dissolved in water and
H2O2 are sometimes used which degrade the organic contaminants.

Air and Waste Gases:

With the onset of human civilization, the air is one of the first and most polluted components of the
atmosphere. Most air pollution comes from one human activity: burning fossil fuels—natural gas, coal,
and oil—to power industrial processes and motor vehicles. When fuels are incompletely burned, various
chemicals called volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) also enter the air. Pollutants also come from other
sources.

For instance, decomposing garbage in landfills and solid waste disposal sites emits methane gas, and
many household products give off VOCs. Expanding industrial activities have added more contaminants
in the air.

The concept of biological air treatment at first seemed impossible. With the development of biological
waste gas purification technology using bioreactors—which includes bio filters, bio trickling filters, bio
scrubbers and membrane bioreactors—this problem is taken care of. The mode of operation of all these
reactors is similar.

Air containing volatile compounds is passed through the bioreactors, where the volatile compounds are
transferred from the gas phase into the liquid phase. Microbial community (mixture of different bacteria,
fungi and protozoa) grow in this liquid phase and remove the compounds acquired from the air.

In the bio filters, the air is passed through a bed packed with organic materials that supplies the
necessary nutrients for the growth of the microorganisms. This medium is kept damp by maintaining the
humidity of the incoming air. Biological off-gas treatment is generally based on the absorption of the
VOC in the waste gases into the aqueous phase followed by direct oxidation by a wide range of voracious
bacteria, which include Nocardia sp. and Xanthomonas sp.

Prevention:

Sustainable development and quality living depends upon the rational, eco-friendly use of natural
resources with economic growth. To comply with this trend, industrial development has to change to
sustainable style from degradative type and for such a purpose cleaner technologies have to be adopted.

According to United Nations Environment Programme (1996) ‘the continuous application of an

integrated preventive environmental strategy to processes, products and services to increase eco-
efficiency and reduce risks to humans and the environment’ defines the eco-friendly concept. The
application of preventive and clean concept can only be achieved by the 5R policies (Olguin et al, 2003).

Five Environmental Buzzwords are the 5Rs for Efficient Use of Energy and Better Control of Waste, Which
Might Help in Sustainable Development and Quality Living:

1. Reduce (Reduction of waste)

2. Reuse (Efficient use of water, energy)

3. Recycle (Recycling of wastes)

4. Replace (Replacement of toxic/hazardous raw materials for more environment- friendly inputs)

5. Recover (useful non-toxic fractions from wastes)

Innovation and adoption of clean technologies is the target of research and development worldwide.
Industrial companies are developing processes with reduced environmental impact responding to the
international call for the development of a sustainable society. There is a pervading trend towards less
harmful products and processes; away from “end-of-pipe” treatment of waste streams. Environmental
biotechnology, with its appropriate technologies, is suitable to contribute to this trend.

Enzyme Application:

Enzymes are widely employed in industries for many years. Enzymes, non-toxic and biodegradable, are
biological catalysts that are highly competent and have numerous advantages over non-biological
catalysts. The use of enzyme by man, both directly and indirectly, have been for thousands of years.

In the recent years enzymes have played important roles in the production of drugs, fine chemicals,
amino acids, antibiotics and steroids. Industrial processes can be made eco-friendly by the use of
enzymes. Enzyme application in the textile, leather, food, pulp and paper industries help in significant
reduction or complete elimination of severe chemicals and are also more economic in energy and
resource consumption.

Biotechnological methods can produce food materials with improved nutritional value, functional
characteristics, shelf stability. Plant cells grown in fermenters can produce flavours such as vanilla,
reducing the need for extracting the compounds from vanilla beans. Food processing has benefited from
biotechnologically produced chymosin which is used in cheese manufacture; alpha-amylase, which is
used in production of high-fructose corn syrup and dry beer; and lactase, which is added to milk to
reduce the lactose content for persons with lactose intolerance.

Genetically engineered enzymes are easier to produce than enzymes isolated from original sources and
are favoured over chemically synthesized substances because they do not create by-products or off-
flavours in foods.

Environmental Detection and Monitoring:

A wide range of biological methods are in use to detect pollution and for the continuous monitoring of
pollutants. The techniques of biotechnology have novel methods for diagnosing environmental problems
and assessing normal environmental conditions so that human beings can be better- informed of the
surroundings. Applications of these methods are cheaper, faster and also portable.

Rather than gathering soil samples and sending them to a laboratory for analysis, scientists can measure
the level of contamination on site and know the results immediately. Biological detection methods using
biosensors and immunoassays have been developed and are now in the market. Microbes are used in
biosensors contamination of metals or pollutants. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) is used to detect
cyanide in river water while Selenastrum capricornatum (green alga) is used for heavy metal detection.
Immunoassays use labelled antibodies (complex proteins produced in biological response to specific
agents) and enzymes to measure pollutant levels. If a pollutant is present, the antibody attaches itself to
it making it detectable either through colour change, fluorescence or radioactivity.

Biosensors:

A biosensor is an analytical device that converts a biological response into an physical, chemical or
electrical signal. The development of biosensors involves integration of a specific and sensitive
biologically derived sensing elements (immobilized cells, enzymes or antibodies) are integrated with
physico-chemical transducers (either electrochemical or optical). Immobilised on a substrate, their
properties change in response to some environmental effect in a way that is electronically or optically
detectable.

It is then possible to make quantitative measurements of pollutants with extreme precision or to very
high sensitivities. The biological response of the biosensor is determined by the bio catalytic membrane,
which accomplishes the conversion of reactant to product. Immobilised enzymes possess a number of
advantageous features which makes them particularly applicable for use in such systems.

They may be re-used, which ensures that the same catalytic activity is present for a series of analyses.
Biosensors are powerful tools, which rely on biochemical reactions to detect specific substances, which
have brought benefits to a wide range of sectors, including the manufacturing, engineering, chemical,
water, food and beverage industries. They are able to detect even small amounts of their particular
target chemicals, quickly, easily and accurately.

For this character of biosensors they have been ardently adopted for a variety of process monitoring
applications, principally in respect to pollution assessment and control. Biosensors for detection of
carbohydrates, organic acids, glucosinolates, aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, pathogenic bacteria and
others have already been developed.

The biosensors can be designed to be very selective, or sensitive to a broad range of compounds. For
example, a wide range of herbicides can be detected in river water using algal-based biosensors; the
stresses inflicted on the organisms being measured as changes in the optical properties of the plant’s
chlorophyll. Biosensors are of different types such as calorimetric biosensors, immunosensors, optical
biosensors, BOD biosensors, gas biosensors.

The remarkable ability of microbes to break down chemicals is proving useful, not only in pollution
remediation but also in pollutant detection. A group of scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory work
with bacteria that degrade a class of organic chemicals called phenols. When the bacteria ingest phenolic
compounds, the phenols attach to a receptor.

The phenol-receptor complex then binds to DNA, activating the genes involved in degrading phenol. The
Los Alamos scientists added a reporter gene that, when triggered by a phenol-receptor complex,
produces an easily detectable protein, thus indicating the presence of phenolic compounds in the
environment. Biosensors employing acetylcholine esterase can be used for the detection of
organophosphorus compounds in water.

Genetic Engineering:

Biotechnology, which is expected to make a great contribution to the welfare of mankind, is an

important technology that should be steadily developed. The application of DNA technology, among the
different kinds of biotechnology, has the possibility to create new gene combinations that have not
previously existed in nature.

Since its beginning, genetic engineering has claimed to be able to construct tailor-made microorganisms
with improved degrading capabilities for toxic substances. With the development of GEM (genetically
engineered microorganism) and their possible utilization in the treatment of contaminated soil and
water, stability of plasmids is extremely desirable. Plasmids are circular strands of DNA that replicates as
separate entities independent of the host chromosome. Plasmids can range in size from those that carry
only a couple of genes to ones carrying much greater numbers. Small plasmids may be present as
multiple copies. Exchange of genetic information via plasmids is achieved by the process of conjugation.
The use of restriction enzymes has enabled the isolation of particular DNA fragments that can be
transferred to another organism lacking the same. Genes which code for metabolism of environmental
pollutants such as PCB’s and other xenobiotic compounds are frequently, although not always, located
on plasmids.

The possibility of genetic transfer in non-biodegradative microbes has opened a new outlook of bio
treatment of wastes. The recombinant DNA has the ability to multiply and may also confer the specific
derivative capacity to detoxify environmental contaminants.

Gene transfer among microbial communities has improved the derivative capacity in vitro. The first
patent for a genetically modified organism (GMO) or GEM, filed in the USA by Professor A. M.
Chakrabarty was for a bacterium Pseudomonas putida with hydrocarbon degrading abilities. Subsequent
reports have noted the role of plasmids in degradation of alkanes, naphthalene, toluene, m— and p—
xylenes.

Given the overwhelming diversity of species, biomolecules and metabolic pathways on this planet,
genetic engineering can, in principle, be a very powerful tool in creating environmentally friendlier
alternatives for products and processes that presently pollute the environment or exhaust its non-
renewable resources.

Nowadays organisms can be supplemented with additional genetic properties for the biodegradation of
specific pollutants if naturally occurring organisms are not able to do that job properly or not quickly
enough. By combining different metabolic abilities in the same microorganism blockage in environmental
cleanup may be circumvented.

In the USA some genetically modified bacteria have been approved for bioremediation purposes but
large scale applications have not yet been reported. In Europe only controlled field tests have been
authorized. Just as light, heat, and moisture can degrade many materials, biotechnology relies on
naturally occurring, living bacteria to perform a similar function but the action is faster.

Some bacteria naturally feed on chemicals and other wastes, including some hazardous materials. They
consume those materials, digest them, and excrete harmless substances in their place. Bioremediation
uses natural as well as recombinant microorganisms to break down toxic and hazardous substances
already present in the environment. Bio treatment can be used to detoxify waste streams at the source
before they contaminate the environment – rather than at the point of disposal. This approach involves
carefully selecting organisms, known as biocatalysts, which are enzymes that degrade specific
compounds and accelerate the degradation process.

However, the application of GMOs/GEMs, in the environment for bioremediation may create problems in
the ecosystem. These exclusively designed organisms do not get a chance to experience the various
fluctuating environmental conditions which is faced by naturally occurring organisms during the
evolutionary processes spaning millions of years.

As a result, the latter are well adapted to the changing environmental conditions such as changes in
temperature, substrate or waste concentrations. But when exposed to the contaminated site, GMOs
show a higher viability than naturally occurring bacteria, due to their tailored enzymatic equipment.

There are concerns about the negative effect of these GMOs on the complex and delicate microbial
ecosystems by competition or the exchange of genetic material in the soils to which they are applied.
Even more worrisome is their potential effect outside the treatment area. While recombinant strains
may appear harmless in the laboratory, it is virtually impossible to assess their impact in the field.

Biotechnical methods are now used to produce many proteins for pharmaceutical and other specialized
purposes. Human insulin, the first genetically engineered product to be produced commercially (1982) is
made by nonvirulent strain of Escherichia coli bacteria, by introduction of a copy of the gene for human
insulin.

When the gene is “amplified” the bacterial cells produce large quantities of human insulin that are
purified and used to treat diabetes in human beings. A number of other genetically engineered products
have been approved since then, including human growth hormone, alpha interferon, recombinant
erythropoietin and tissue plasminogen activator.

Biotechnology techniques are being applied to plants to produce plant materials with improved
composition, functional characteristics. Among the first commercially available whole food products was
the slow-ripening tomato, the gene for polygalacturonase, the enzyme responsible for softening, is
turned off in this tomato. Plants that are resistant to disease, pests, environmental conditions, or
selected herbicides or pesticides are also being developed.

In 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave clearance for development of transgenic corn
seed, cotton seed, and seed potatoes that contain the genetic material to resist certain insects. The
advantage of such products is that they allow the use of less toxic and more environmentally friendly
herbicides and pesticides.

The first approved application of biotechnology to animal production was the use of recombinant bovine
somatotropin (BST) in dairy cows. Bovine somatotropin, a protein hormone found naturally in cows, is
necessary for milk production. When the recombinant BST is administered to dairy cows under ideal
management conditions, milk production has been shown to increase by 10% to 25%.

Other uses of biotechnology in animal production include development of vaccines to protect animals
from disease, production of several calves from one embryo (cloning), artificial insemination,
improvement of growth rate and/or feed efficiency, and rapid disease detection.

Natural bio-pesticides are another development of biotechnology that help farmers reduce chemical use.
They degrade rapidly, leave no residues, and are toxic only to target insects. Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.),
produces a protein that is naturally toxic to certain insects. Scientists have extracted the B.t. gene that
expresses the insecticide and inserted it into common bacteria that can be grown in large quantities by
the same fermentation techniques used to produce such everyday products as beer and antibiotics.
Spread on cotton and other crops, these harmless bacteria control insects naturally.

Moreover, a wide range of crop plants have been genetically engineered to express the cry genes (found
in B. t.) in their tissues, so the insects get killed as they feed on these crops. Pollution control by genetic
engineering is likely to work best when pollutants are a known mixture of relatively concentrated organic
compounds that are related to each other in structure, where conventional alternative organic nutrients
are absent, and when there is no competition from indigenous microorganisms.

The spectacular metabolic versatility of bacteria and fungi is exploited in the area environmental
bioremediation as in sewage and waste water treatment, degradation of xenobiotics and metal
abatement. Genetic manipulation offers a way of engineering microorganisms to deal with a pollutant,
or a family of closely related pollutants, that may be present in the waste stream from an industrial
process.
The simplest approach is to extend the degradative capabilities of existing metabolic pathways within an
organism either by introducing additional enzymes from other organisms or by modifying the specificity
or catalytic mechanisms of enzymes already present.

A treatment plant at the Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, purifies 4 million gallons of cyanide-
containing wastewater a day by completely converting cyanide to nitrate. Pseudomonas sp. convert
cyanide and thiocyanate to ammonia and bicarbonate and the nitrifying bacteria Nitrosomonas and
Nitrobacter cooperate in converting ammonia to nitrate. Recombinant DNA technology has had amazing
repercussion in the last few years in environmental protection and also in other fields for better quality
of living.

Different Areas of Environmental Biotechnology:

Environmental Biotechnology and Metagenomics:

Environmental Biotechnology is Divided into Different Areas:

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(i) Direct studies of the environment,

(ii) Research with a focus on applications to the environment and

(iii) Research that applies information from the environment to other venues.

Here, a brief account of a particular aspect of direct analysis of environment is given.

In addition to DNA inside living organisms, there is much free DNA in the environment that might also be
a source of new genes. The field of environmental biotechnology has revolutionized the study of the life-
forms which have not been studied earlier and DNA.

This approach is direct analyses of the environment and the natural biochemical processes that are
present. A significant study in this aspect is metagenomics. Metagenomics is the study of the genomes of
whole communities of microscopic life forms and it deals with a mixture of DNA from multiple
organisms, viruses, viroids, plasmids and free DNA.

In other words, metagenomics, the genomic analysis of a population of microorganisms, is the method
to gain access to the physiology and genetics of uncultured organisms.

Using metagenomics, researchers investigate, catalogue the current microbial diversity. New proteins,
enzymes and biochemical pathways are identified. The knowledge garnered from metagenomics has the
potential to affect the ways we use the environment. Metagenomic analyses involves isolating DNA from
an environmental sample, cloning the DNA into a suitable vector, transforming the clones into a host
bacterium and screening the resultant transformants.

The clones can be screened for phylogenetic markers such as 16S rRNA and rec A or for other conserved
genes by hybridization or multiplex PCR or for expression of specific traits such as enzyme activity or
antibiotic production or they can be sequenced randomly.

One very important method for metagenomic study is stable isotope probing (SIP). An environmental
sample of water or soil is first mixed with a precursor such as methanol, phenol, carbonate or ammonia
that has been labeled with a stable isotope such as 15N, 13C or 18O. If the organisms in the sample
metabolize the precursor substrate, the stable isotope is incorporated into their genome.

When the DNA from the sample is isolated and separated by centrifugation, the genomes that
incorporated the labeled substrate will be heavier and can be separated from the other DNA in the
sample. The heavier DNA will migrate further in a cesium chloride gradient during centrifugation. The
DNA can be used directly or cloned into vectors to make a metagenomic library. This technique is useful
to find new organisms that can degrade contaminants such as phenol.
Microorganisms are crucial participants in cleaning up a large variety of hazardous substances/chemicals
by transforming them into forms that are harmless to people and environment. One very important
example is given here. Gasoline is leaked into soil in every gas station in United States.

There is every possibility that gasoline will be mixed with ground water which is the prime source of
drinking water. However, the dormant members of the soil microbial community are triggered to
become active and degrade the harmful chemicals in gasoline.

Since gasoline is composed of hundreds of chemicals it takes a variety of microbes working together to
degrade them all. When some bacteria cause a depletion of O2 in ground water near a gasoline spill,
other types of bacteria that can use nitrate for energy begin biodegrading the gasoline. Bacteria that use
iron, manganese and sulfate follow.

All these microbial communities work together in a pattern to transform leaking gasoline into CO2 and
water. Metagenomic analysis may help us identify the particular community member and function
needed to achieve the full chemical transformation that will keep our planet livable.

industrial biotech
What is Industrial Biotechnology?

Industrial biotechnology is one of the most promising new approaches to pollution prevention,
resource conservation, and cost reduction. It is often referred to as the third wave in
biotechnology. If developed to its full potential, industrial biotechnology may have a larger
impact on the world than health care and agricultural biotechnology. It offers businesses a way
to reduce costs and create new markets while protecting the environment. Also, since many of
its products do not require the lengthy review times that drug products must undergo, it's a
quicker, easier pathway to the market. Today, new industrial processes can be taken from lab
study to commercial application in two to five years, compared to up to a decade for drugs.

The application of biotechnology to industrial processes is not only transforming how we

manufacture products but is also providing us with new products that could not even be
imagined a few years ago. Because industrial biotechnology is so new, its benefits are still not
well known or understood by industry, policymakers, or consumers.
From the beginning, industrial biotechnology has integrated product improvements with
pollution prevention. Nothing illustrates this better than the way industrial biotechnology
solved the phosphate water pollution problems in the 1970s caused by the use of phosphates in
laundry detergent. Biotechnology companies developed enzymes that removed stains from
clothing better than phosphates, thus enabling replacement of a polluting material with a non-
polluting biobased additive while improving the performance of the end product. This
innovation dramatically reduced phosphate-related algal blooms in surface waters around the
globe, and simultaneously enabled consumers to get their clothes cleaner with lower wash
water temperatures and concomitant energy savings.

Rudimentary industrial biotechnology actually dates back to at least 6000 B.C. when Neolithic
cultures fermented grapes to make wine, and Babylonians used microbial yeasts to make beer.
Over time, mankind's knowledge of fermentation increased, enabling the production of cheese,
yogurt, vinegar, and other food products. In the 1800s, Louis Pasteur proved that fermentation
was the result of microbial activity. Then in 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming extracted penicillin from
mold. In the 1940s, large-scale fermentation techniques were developed to make industrial
quantities of this wonder drug. Not until after World War II, however, did the biotechnology
revolution begin, giving rise to modern industrial biotechnology.

Since that time, industrial biotechnology has produced enzymes for use in our daily lives and for
the manufacturing sector. For instance, meat tenderizer is an enzyme and some contact lens
cleaning fluids contain enzymes to remove sticky protein deposits. In the main, industrial
biotechnology involves the microbial production of enzymes, which are specialized proteins.
These enzymes have evolved in nature to be super-performing biocatalysts that facilitate and
speed-up complex biochemical reactions. These amazing enzyme catalysts are what make
industrial biotechnology such a powerful new technology.

Industrial biotechnology involves working with nature to maximize and optimize existing
biochemical pathways that can be used in manufacturing. The industrial biotechnology
revolution rides on a series of related developments in three fields of study of detailed
information derived from the cell: genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics. As a result,
scientists can apply new techniques to a large number of microorganisms ranging from bacteria,
yeasts, and fungi to marine diatoms and protozoa.
Industrial biotechnology companies use many specialized techniques to find and improve
nature's enzymes. Information from genomic studies on microorganisms is helping researchers
capitalize on the wealth of genetic diversity in microbial populations. Researchers first search for
enzyme-producing microorganisms in the natural environment and then use DNA probes to
search at the molecular level for genes that produce enzymes with specific biocatalytic
capabilities. Once isolated, such enzymes can be identified and characterized for their ability to
function in specific industrial processes. If necessary, they can be improved with biotechnology
techniques.

Many biocatalytic tools are rapidly becoming available for industrial applications because of the
recent and dramatic advances in biotechnology techniques. In many cases, the biocatalysts or
whole-cell processes are so new that many chemical engineers and product development
specialists in the private sector are not yet aware that they are available for deployment. This is
a good example of a "technology gap" where there is a lag between availability and widespread
use of a new technology. This gap must be overcome to accelerate progress in developing more
economic and sustainable manufacturing processes through the integration of biotechnology.
"New Biotech Tools for a Cleaner Environment" provides dramatic illustrations of what these
powerful new tools can do. The report aims to spark more interest in this powerful technology,
to help close this technology gap, and facilitate progress toward a more sustainable future.

GMOs hazards Risk assessment of GM crops

risk assessment
Risk assessment identifies potential hazards and/or adverse impacts of GM crops or derived product on
non-target organisms and/or environment. This involves a number of coordinated steps like risk
identification, risk characterisation and risk categorisation. The first and foremost practice i.e. risk
identification involves identification of risk or possible hazard to the non-target species or the
environment, if any, associated with release and use of transgenic or GM crops and associated products.
This is followed by overall characterisation of risk i.e., whether its effect are direct or indirect, chronic or
acute, immediate or delayed in action, etc. Finally, risk categorisation is done which involvves grouping
of identified and well characterised risk under various categories viz., negative health effects on target
population; adverse effect on non-target population, the evolution of resistance or resurgence in the
targeted pest/pathogen population, flow of transgene to another species, etc. In the process of risk
assessment if a potential risk is identified the appropriate measures are taken for its management .

3.1 Steps of risk assessment

4. Risk management in use of GM crops

Risk management involves strategic techniques to reduce the adverse effect of GM crops and associated
products on non-target species or environment and also to reduce the chances of development of
resistance in target pest population. Several tactics viz. application of alternate or mix insecticides with
different modes of action or use of refuge strategy could be effectively employed to minimise the risk of
development of insecticidal resistance in insects. These techniques are also helpful in avoiding the
problem of resurgence in insects. In Bt crops newer techniques viz. use of alternate or combined Bt toxin
or refuge strategy are much rewarding in management of resistance. Similarly, weeds could develop
resistance in them following various mechanism viz. modified site of action, detoxification and
compartmentalisation. By doing so they rendered the herbicides or weedicides ineffective against them
in long run. Thus, to minimise or to prevent the risk of development of herbicide resistant in weeds and
evolution of super weed various techniques have been utilised. Rotation

BIOSAFETY OF GMOs

impact of GMOs

GMO requires less inputs like herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers

and water to grow food and also on less land than before. Bt crops
which uses less insecticides and drought resistant GMO crops are
environmental friendly, benefitting farmers as well as society.  GM
crops are also resistant to deadly viral diseases which are saving our
food as well as the industries which grow them. Eg. Hawaiian
Rainbow papaya was genetically engineered so as to make them virus
resistant which saved the crop and the industry.  Herbicide tolerant
crops are beneficial for farmers as it reduces the use of chemical
herbicides, along with it allows use of less or no – till farming methods.
Reduce tilling also reduces nutrient runoff as well as soil erosions,
which prevent river pollution. Also reduce tilling maintains soil
moisture, thereby increasing yield and nutritional values of the crops.
 Food wastes are also reduced with the help of transgenic. Genetically
engineered potatoes can resist bruising during handling and shipping
and GM apples will resist browning will reduce food wastes in kitchen
and markets.  GMO have enhanced nutritional profiles like Golden
Rice which accumulates and produces Vitamin A will help to eradicate
Vitamin A deficiency in millions of children globally every year.
Similarly GMO soybean oils contains increased levels of Omega 3 and
reduced Trans fats.  Positive Environmental impacts of GMO’s Soil
salinity is one of the major problems faced by farmers. Many of the
productive agricultural land have become barren due to soil salinity. The
farmers need salt tolerant crops which is possible by using Recombinant
DNA technology. For example a transgenic tobacco plant with salt
tolerant gene from Avicennia marina is able to tolerate salt stress and
other ionic stresses.  GMO’s also has the potential to provide edible
plant vaccines which can be used to immunize individuals against a
wide variety of diseases like transgenic potato plants are used for
immunization against diarrhoea.