Industrial Biotechnology

The rapid growth of the biomanufacturing and bioeconomy sector has positioned it as a critical part of the global economy, with applications spanning food, chemicals, agriculture, energy, and defense materials. As the United States strives to maintain its competitive edge and secure its supply chains, addressing the increasing dominance of China in the biomanufacturing industry is crucial. This white paper proposes implementing targeted tariffs on Biomanufactured products imported from China to protect the U.S. biomanufacturing industry, safeguard national security interests, and promote domestic innovation, and competitiveness for a secure bioeconomy.

Significant federal investments through the Inflation Reduction Act and the President’s Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy highlight the renewable chemicals sector as the next critical frontier. The Biden Administration has extended the Trump Administration’s policies, garnering bipartisan support for tariffs ranging from 7.5% to 100% on various industrial products from China. Despite these tariffs, the government must do more to protect biomanufacturing sector to safeguarding U.S. businesses from unfair competition and mitigating supply chain risks, especially where no domestic producers exist for certain bio ingredients crucial in manufacturing biofuels includes sustainable aviation fuels, food, beverage, biomaterials, and pharmaceutical products. Therefore, AFCC and its member companies propose a range of 60% to 100% tariff on biomanufactured products from China.

This review article presents a comprehensive evaluation of carbon capture (CC) methodologies, with a focus on sustainable carbon dioxide (CO₂) mitigation using microalgae. It highlights the urgency of addressing escalating atmospheric CO₂ levels owing to their significant contribution to global warming and explores various CC techniques. Special emphasis is placed on microalgae-based strategies, which offer a promising solution for biologically sequestering CO₂ efficiently and cost-effectively while converting it into valuable biomass, which then can be used for various applications that include bioenergy. The article examines various mechanisms identified and involved in CO₂ assimilation, methodologies, and possible improvements in CO₂ capture and biomass conversion by microalgae. It also assesses the economic feasibility of microalgae cultivation for CC, suggesting that large-scale implementation could sequester substantial amounts of CO₂ annually and yield significant biomass for applications such as integrating wastewater treatment and flue gas utilization, thereby contributing to a sustainable global bioeconomy and mitigating climate change impacts.

This study delves into the transformative impacts of solid-state fermentation (SSF) and biofortification of palm kernel cake (PKC) using yeast and plant extracts on its biochemical characteristics. Diverse combinations of PKC underwent fermentation with extracts derived from Pennisetum purpureum, Elaeis guinnensis, and Carica papaya, in combination with either baker’s yeast or palm wine yeast. The findings demonstrated a significant increase (p < 0.05) in soluble protein content to 20.5 mg/g and L-lysine concentration to 8.9 mg/g, compared with the control values of 14.4 mg/g and 2.3 mg/g, respectively. Conversely, there was a substantial decrease (p < 0.05) in both glucose content and reducing sugars concentration in solid-state fermented and biofortified PKC. In addition, a notable elevation (p < 0.05) was observed in total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, amylase, protease, and xylanase activity compared with the control. SSF and biofortification enhance agricultural residue nutrition, impacting food production and waste management practices significantly.

Antimicrobial resistance or AMR in fungal species poses a significant risk to both the health of individuals and the environment. This has been seen as a slow-moving pandemic and as the severity of this issue continues to escalate, an increasing number of research has been conducted on the AMR. If not addressed, the shortage of effective antibiotics endangers everyday medical procedures and has the potential to cause millions of fatalities per year. Studies with antibiotics have been extensive; however, sparse literature is available when it comes to antifungal resistance. As Candida species continue to develop resistance to conventional drugs, it is of the utmost importance to conduct a comprehensive retracing of important research on this area that was published between the years 2015 and 2023. Current antifungal resistance research focuses on the mechanism through which these spreads. The research outputs have also highlighted the need to develop alternative therapy including synergism of phytochemicals derived from plants in combination with conventional drugs. This article examines the significant publications, authors, articles, nations, and keywords related to antifungal resistance in the context of AMR. This work also emphasizes the trends and advancements that have emerged because of these assessments during the past decade. The bibliometric analysis visualization was created using VOSViewer with publication data obtained from the SCOPUS database. The analysis will enhance comprehension of existing issues with antifungal resistance research data and assist new researchers in identifying prominent communities in this sector to gain essential insights. China, the United States, and India have the highest number of publications. The findings also indicated that the number of research that are associated with antifungal resistance is growing on an annual basis.'

Paper products are omnipresent; however, the high versatility due to different coatings complicates the assessment of their biodegradability. Simple and rapid screening methods are essential and traditionally dependent on time-consuming biodegradation trials, which require the measurement of the tensile strength of buried paper strips over several days. Commercial cellulase formulations were evaluated for correlation to biodegradation in soil as a fast alternative requiring only 1 hour using 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid. In addition, substances potentially accelerating biodegradation were assessed to demonstrate the suitability of the screening method for evaluation of materials with enhanced recycling properties. The addition of starch and lignosulfonates to the assay resulted in enhanced enzyme activity of up to +24.1% and +44.4%, respectively, whereas gluconolactone inhibited β-glucosidase activity. The same trend was seen for the hydrolysis of coated paper based on the release of reducing sugars and high-performance liquid chromatography quantification of mono- and oligosaccharides. Biodegradation trials were performed in soil to validate the developed screening method. Indeed, enzymatic hydrolysis correlated to biodegradation in soil where a faster decrease of tensile strength of 43.45% and 22.16% was seen after 3 days for polymerized lignosulfonates and starch, respectively. This indicates that the biodegradation in soil is affected by extracellular cellulases of microorganisms. This was further confirmed by measurement of endoglucanase (on derivatized cellopentaose) and β-glucosidase activity in soil which again resulted in increased activity in the presence of starch and lignosulfonates. Hence, time-consuming soil biodegradation trials of cellulosic materials can be replaced by enzyme-based in vitro activity assays and considerably reduce testing times.

Human activities and food shortages threaten civilization. A solution is the production of single-cell proteins (SCPs) from industrial waste, such as cheese whey. This method reduces environmental impact by converting high-biological oxygen demand (BOD) waste into SCPs. Kluyveromyces spp., a lactose-utilizing yeast species, can produce SCPs while reducing whey BOD. The research aims to establish a sustainable, environmentally friendly approach to using this abundant resource. The study focused on a response surface methodology (RSM) to optimize SCP production from whey through yeast culture. The yeast strains Kluyveromyces marxianus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were employed. Plackett-Burman design and RSM were employed to determine the most influential variables on SCP production. The mixed yeast culture was prepared and inoculated into pasteurized whey. The β-galactosidase enzyme activity was measured using Miller’s method to determine minimum and maximum biomass production in design experiments. A BOD measurement of whey was used to measure the oxygen needed for organic matter breakdown in a wastewater sample. The optimal conditions and resources for cultivation, β-galactosidase enzyme assay, and BOD assay were evaluated through Minitab 17.0 software. Optimal production was achieved at 200 g/L of powdered whey. This was combined with 14.5% ammonium sulfate at a concentration of 7 g/L and a pH of 8. Under these conditions, biomass production reached 21.04 g/L. The activity level of the β-galactosidase enzyme at concentrations of 50 g/L, 150 g/L, and 200 g/L of whey powder was 492 U/L, 930 U/L, and 1082 U/L, respectively. The BOD at the same concentrations was 7400 mg/L, 7800 mg/L, and 6100 mg/L. Results from the study indicated that biomass production increased by 40.39% in mix culture compared to pure culture. β-galactosidase activity is correlated with biomass production, and as biomass production increases, BOD decreases by approximately 75.6%.