Environmental Biotechnology

Introduction to
Environmental Biotechnology
 Environment
The word environment is derived from the French
word “environ”. Which means “encompass”
“encircle” etc. It is believed to have been
introduced into the subject by biologist Jacob Van
Erkulin the early 1900s.

“All that which is external to individual human

host. It can be divided into physical, biological,
social cultural any or all of which can influence
health status in populations.” (WHO, 1995)
 Environment
“The surroundings in which an organization operates including
air, water, land and natural resources, flora, fauna, humans and
their inter relations” – ISO Definition.
Environment can also be defined as
“The natural surroundings of
organism which directly or indirectly influences the growth an
d development of the organism”.
 Classification of Components of Environment
Environment
1.Biotic
1. Physical environment
•Atmosphere 2.Abiotic
•Hydrosphere
•Lithosphere As per American literature

1. Hydrosphere (Water)
2. Biological environment
•Floral
•Faunal 2. Atmosphere (Air)
•Microbial
3. Lithosphere (Land)
3. Cultural environment
•Society
•Economy 4. Biosphere (Flora/Fauna/Microbes)
•Politics 5. Anthrosphere (Man made things)
Ecosystem
The community, where the living-organism lives in an area and
interacts with the other elements of the environment. It provides a
system for living organisms to dwell and manage its life with the
surrounding.
Or
An area that has frequent interactions between animals, plants,
microorganisms, and their immediate environment. The
interaction tends to be harmonious thus creating a balance.

Biome
A biome is a large region of the world that has similar plants,
animals and other organisms that are adapted to the terrain and
weather of that region.
Environmental Biology
The scientific study of the origins, functions, relationships,
interactions, and natural history of living populations,
communities, species, and ecosystems in relation to dynamic
environmental processes.

Environmental science
An interdisciplinary field of science that studies the
interactions of the physical, chemical, and biological
components of the environment and also the relationships,
effects of these components with the organisms in the
environment and the solution of environmental problems
 Biotechnology
The use of living systems, organisms, their components or
derivatives to develop or make products, or "any technological
application or modify products or processes for specific use" (UN
Convention on Biological Diversity, Art. 2).
The term is largely believed to have been coined in 1919 by
Hungarian Agriculture Economist Károly Ereky.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, biotechnology has
expanded to include new and diverse sciences such
as genomics, recombinant DNA techniques, applied immunology,
and development of pharmaceutical therapies and diagnostic tests
 Human or Anthropogenic Activities
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution in about 1750 in the
last 250 years by human activities
Use of fossil fuels, synthetic agri-products
Industrial activities
Extensive use of Natural resources for construction, industries,
transport, and Consumption
Changes in Earth’s energy balance
 Loss of biodiversity

The environment can be affected by Technologies including

biotechnologies, both positively and adversely
Environmental Biotechnology

The International Society for Environmental

Biotechnology defines environmental
biotechnology as:

“The development, use and regulation of biological

systems for remediation of contaminated
environments (land, air, water), and for environment-
friendly processes (green manufacturing technologies
and sustainable development)“

Application of Biotechnology for the protection and

restoration of the quality of the environment.
The Big Question:
Whether Climate Change is Manageable?
What can we do……………..?
 Prevent…..

 Reduce…..

 Control…...

 Treatment…..

How can deal with causes

Is it possible to deal with Natural factors…..?

Is it possible to deal with human-induced Activities …..?

 Objectives of Environmental
Biotechnology
1. To prevent, arrest and reverse environmental degradation through the
appropriate use of biotechnology in combination with other
technologies.
2. To adopt production processes that make optimal use of natural
resources, by recycling biomass, recovering energy and minimizing
waste generation.
3. To promote the use of biotechnological techniques with emphasis on
bioremediation of land and water, waste treatment, soil conservation,
reforestation, afforestation and land rehabilitation.
4. To apply biotechnology to protect environmental integrity with a
view to long-term ecological security.
 How does Environmental Biotechnology
Work?
EB achieved by its objectives by the 5R policies (Five
Environmental Buzzwords ”5R”)
1.Reduce (Reduction of waste/pollution)
2.Reuse (Efficient use of water, energy etc)
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)
•Environmental biotechnology can be used to detect, prevent and remediate the
emission of pollutants into the environment in a number of ways.
•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.
Fundamentals of Biological Intervention
An intervention is a combination of program elements or strategies designed to produce
changes or improvement among individuals or an entire population. Interventions that
include multiple strategies are typically the most effective in producing desired and lasting
change.

1. Manipulation of natural cycles

2. Biological systems and Tools
3. Mesophilic and extremophilic organisms
4. Alternative routes - to conventional chemicals or materials;
5. DNA mobility - movement of genes within and between organisms
6. Environmental bioremediation
• Phytoremediation
• Microbial bioremediation
 bioaccumulation
 biosorption
 bioprecipitation
 biodegradation
7. plantation system
8. Plant systems for carbon sequestration
 Phytoremediation
The direct use of living green plants for in situ (in
place) removal, degradation, transfer, stabilization
of contaminants in soils, sludges, sediments,
surface water and groundwater.

Phytoremediation process is comprised of four functions:

1.Absorbing and accumulating hazardous substances.
2.Degrading and detoxifying it.
3.Stabilizing it around the roots
4.Activating microbes around the roots to degrade and detoxify it
Types of Phytoremediation
1.Phytoextraction- the use of plants to remove contaminants, mostly roots from soils.
2.Phytovolatilization- the use of plants to make volatile chemical species of soil elements.
3.Phytofiltration- the use of plant roots (rhizofiltration) or seedlings (blastofiltration) to absorb or
adsorb contaminants (mostly metals) from flowing water.
4.Phytostabilization- the use of plants to transform soil metals to less toxic forms, but not remove
the metal from the soil. It reduces the bioavailability of pollutants in the environment.
5.Phytodegradation- the use of plants to degrade organic contaminants.
6.Rhizosphere bioremediation- the use of plant roots in conjunction with their rhizospheric

microorganisms to remediate organics from the contaminated soil.

Limitations:
•Phytoremediation is limited to the surface area and depth occupied by the roots.
•Slow growth and low biomass require a long-term commitment
•With plant-based systems of remediation, it is not possible to completely prevent the leaching
of contaminants into the groundwater (without the complete removal of the contaminated
ground, which in itself does not resolve the problem of contamination)
•The survival of the plants is affected by the toxicity of the contaminated land and the general
condition of the soil.
•Bio-accumulation of contaminants, especially metals, into the plants which then pass into
the food chain from primary level consumers upwards or requires the safe disposal of the

affected plant material.

•The toxicity and bioavailability of biodegradation products is not always known.
•Degradation by-products may be mobilized in groundwater or bio-accumulated in animals.
•The success of phytoremediation may be seasonal, depending on location. Other climatic
factors will also influence its effectiveness.
 Microbial Bioremediation
The use of microorganisms (metabolism) to degrade, transform
into less toxic forms or accumulate environmental pollutants.

• This process is usually quite slow, which leads to a tendency for

pollutants to accumulate in the environment and this accumulation can
potentially be hazardous
• Populations of microorganisms responsible for bioremediation are not
large or active enough to remove the pollutants completely, or
complex mixtures of pollutants resist removal by existing pathways.
• Problems with ensuring adequate contact between the microbes and
the contaminant
• Metabolisms of microorganisms influenced by environmental factors.
Genetic Engineering for Modification of Plants to Enhance
Phytoremediation

 Plants have the innate capabilities of remedying hazardous contaminants from the
environment (bioremediation), but the rate of bioremediation is directly proportional to
plant growth rate and the total amount of bioremediation is correlated with a plant total
biomass, making the process very slow. This necessitates the identification of a fast
growing (largest potential biomass and greatest nutrient responses) and more strongly
remedying genotypes.
 Genetic engineering approach has successfully facilitated to alter the biological functions
of plants through modification of primary and secondary metabolism and by adding new
phenotypic and genotypic characters to plants with the aim of understanding and
improving their phytoremediation properties.
 The increase of valuable natural products through the over expression of biosynthetic genes
with a strong promoter and a suitable signal sequence to control the preferred subcellular
localization
 Use of tissue culture to select for genes having enhanced biodegradative properties (for
organics) or enhanced ability to assimilate metals, and regenerate new plant varieties based
on these selected cells is also helping to select plants with desired characters.
 Molecular techniques such as the analysis of molecular variance of the random amplified
polymorphic DNA markers are also useful to investigate the genetic diversity and heavy
metal tolerance in plant populations, providing the opportunity to investigate the first steps
in the differentiation of plant populations under severe selection pressure and to select plants
for phytoremediation
Pollution Indicator
“Any physical or non physical entities which qualitatively or

quantitatively measure or reveal the level of pollution in environment.”

1.Biological indicators

2.Physical and chemical indicators

3.Socio-economic indicators
Bioindicator:

"A biological species or group of species whose presence, function,

population, or status (changes biochemical, physiological
or behavioural) or absence can indicate the level of pollution and
reveal the qualitative status of the environment”.

Biological Monitor, or Biomonitor:

can be defined as an organism that provides quantitative information
on the quality of the environment around it. Therefore, a good
biomonitor will indicate the presence of the pollutant and also
attempt to provide additional information about the amount and
intensity of the exposure.
A bioindicator is an organism or biological response that reveals the
presence of the pollutants by the occurrence of typical symptoms or
measurable responses and is, therefore, more qualitative. These
organisms (or communities of organisms) deliver information on
alterations in the environment or the quantity of
environmental pollutants by changing in one of the following
ways: physiologically, chemically or behaviorally. The information can
be deduced through the study of:
1.their content of certain elements or compounds
2.their morphological or cellular structure
3.metabolic biochemical processes
4.behaviour
5.population structure(s)

The importance and relevance of biomonitors, rather than man-made equipment, is justified by
the statement: "There is no better indicator of the status of a species or a system than a species
or system itself." Bioindicators have the ability to indicate indirect biotic effects of pollutants
when many physical or chemical measurements cannot. Through bioindicators, scientists need
to observe only the single indicating species to check on the environment rather than monitor
the whole community
Natural Bioindicators
1. Plant indicators

2. Animal indicators and toxins

3. Microbial indicators

4. Macroinvertebrates

5. Insects