HOW WHITE BIOTECHNOLOGY CAN CONTRIBUTE TO BIOECONOMY?

Abstract

Biotechnology in its broadest sense is the application of science and technology to living organisms to produce goods, products and services. It is segmented into 10 branches, of which white biotechnology, also called industrial biotechnology, is the oldest, having its roots in the Neolithic period with the transformation of food into fermented products attributed to divine intervention at that time. White biotechnology really took off after Louis Pasteur demonstrated that fermentation is caused by living organisms. This discovery was followed in the early 20th century by the development of large-scale fermentation processes exploiting the intrinsic metabolic properties of microorganisms, such as solventogenesis in Clostridium or secondary metabolism for penicillin synthesis in Penicillium. With the advent of recombinant DNA in the 1970s, a new era of white biotechnology was born, with the ability to genetically manipulate microorganisms for the production of recombinant proteins and therapeutic agents, which notably boosted the biopharmaceutical sector. A third revolution in white biotechnology is nowadays occurring, driven by the strong societal demand to shift from a fossil fuel-based economy to one based on renewable carbon resources. The transition to so-called "bioeconomy" is expected to be slow and painful because it relies on the exploitation of "biological systems" that, unlike the chemical processes, are much more complex, inefficient, difficult to manage and still unpredictable. After a brief history of industrial biotechnology, I will present and address in this opinion paper some major challenges that await white biotechnology, using as an example our current work in the production of biosourced methionine, and I will discuss societal factors that could foster a bright future to white biotechnology in our modern society.