Can carbon dioxide-eating microbes initiate sustainable industrial revolution?
Synthetic biology: the multidisciplinary field has a vast potential and it’s evolving so fast that there seems to be no agreed definition for it. Let’s say that synthetic biology or SynBio is a way of engineering existing biological systems for useful applications. Biotech applications span across several industries, including in the production of food, fibre, drugs and biofertilisers. Industrialists and economists also expect SynBio to play a big role in sustainable economic growth.
But nature itself can be a barrier for SynBio to be sustainable. The living world generates biomass (biological materials) to grow in two separate ways:
- autotrophic organisms convert inorganic carbon (carbon dioxide) into biomass;
- heterotrophic organisms use organic molecules (sugars and fats) for growth.
Autotrophs (organisms that encompass plants) comprise of the most biomass on Earth, as well as supplying a majority of our food and fuels.
One problem with sustainable biotech is that most SynBio organisms are heterotrophs that grow on sugar. And producing sugar requires energy, and therefore, it’s challenging to build a sustainable economy driven by these organisms.
