SYNTHETIC ORGANISMS - MEDIUM TERM
Large-scale production of chemical compounds and commodities via synthetic organisms
Plausibly available in the medium term
(from 5 to 10 years from now)
Large-scale production of chemical compounds and commodities via synthetic organisms Short description: Drawing on earlier successes in the use of microorganisms for synthetizing biofuels or fine chemicals, such as farnesene-based jet fuels or vanillin, more organisms will be successfully used to produce a greater range of bulk products, such as food, feed, materials, chemicals and fuels. These organisms are considered “cell factories” for the production of a wide range of molecules that can be secreted.
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We identified and selected the large-scale production of chemical compounds and commodities via synthetic organisms as an application plausibly available in the medium term (from 5 to 10 years from now). Drawing on earlier successes in the use of microorganisms for synthesizing biofuels or fine chemicals, such as farnesene-based jet fuels or vanillin, more organisms will be used to produce a greater range of bulk products, such as food, feed, materials, chemicals and fuels. These organisms work as “cell factories” for the production of a wide range of molecules that can be secreted [1].
Synthetic organisms promise to produce different compounds for a variety use, such as biofuels, polymers and heterogeneous therapeutics: a broad spectrum of applications which can positively affect both human health and the environment [2]. In the medical sector, the scientific literature lists experimental studies on the production of tumorkilling bacteria, synthetic drug delivery vectors, and engineered viruses and immune cells that target specific diseased cells. In the environmental sector, most R&D activities now aim at the production of chemical products, ranging from plastics to biofuels, to microbes that can degrade toxic chemical compounds [3].
The production of biofuels and other compounds for industrial use is attracting growing international attention because of its potential for reducing the dependence on fossil fuels, and positively impacting climate change. In this case, the scientific experts agree that the production of renewable chemicals will be crucial for improving energy security, fostering also environmental sustainability in industrialized countries and emerging markets [4].
Despite the optimistic expectations about synthetic microorganisms, the scientific debate points out the many technical challenges that remain, such as predicting the chemical properties of the materials produced via the synthetic organisms, and their potential economic and environmental impacts. Exploring this implications requires new forms of scientific collaboration between chemists, biologists and engineers, and the development of predictive tools for understanding the structural and functional properties of the materials composed of new molecules [2]. Eventually, many other challenges concern the commercialization of these products, which is still to be assessed. Not only chemical properties and functional performance, but also national and international regulations, and market volatility will strongly affect the commercial potential of these new products, in a way that is similar to what happens today in the commodity market (sugar cane, lignocellulose, corn or crude oil).
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Relevant references
[1] Chubukov, V., Mukhopadhyay, A., Petzold, C.J., Keasling, J.D. and Martín, H.G. (2016) Synthetic and systems biology for microbial production of commodity chemicals, in “Systems Biology and Applications 2”, Article number: 16009, doi:10.1038/npjsba.2016.9
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[2] Balmer, A. and Martin, P. (2008) Synthetic biology. Social and ethical challenges. An independent review commissioned by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Swindon, UK: BBSRC.
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[3] Wijffels, R.H., Kruse, O. and Hellingwerf, K.J. (2013) Potential of industrial biotechnology with cyanobacteria and eukaryotic microalgae, in “Current Opinion in Biotechnology”, 24 (3), pp. 405–413
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[4] Draaisma, R.B., Wijffels, R.H., Slegers, P.M., Brentner, L.B., Roy, A. and Barbosa, M.J. (2013) Food commodities from microalgae, in “Current opinion in Biotechnology”, 24 (2), pp. 169–177
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