White+Biotechnology


 * //Link: http://www.nature.com/embor/journal/v4/n9/full/embor928.html

Summary: gives background information on White Biotechnology.

Link: [] Summary: This website is about how white boitechnology is generated and, what it produces. Posted by: Christine Healy

Link: __ http://www.biology-online.org/articles/relevance-chemistry-white-biotechnology/commentary.html __ Summary: This explains the definition of white biotechnology and how it is used and what it is used for and how it related to chemistry Posted by: Christine Healy

Link: [] Industrial Biotechnology//** is an authoritative, multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed and industry news journal dedicated to biobased products and processes: advancing sustainable, cost- and eco-efficient production of chemicals, materials, consumer goods, and alternative energy. **//Industrial Biotechnology//** is the premier forum for this critical field and the only publication bridging biotechnology R&D with later-stage commercialization for all industrial and environmental applications, including: The Journal includes reporting on commercial and institute R&D, overviews and expert commentary on policy, funding, markets, business, legal issues, and science trends. Rigorously peer-reviewed Methods papers (technical application notes), Short Communications, Literature Reviews, and Original Research manuscripts articles present discoveries, technologies and applications of significant contribution to the core industrial biotechnology sciences of chemistry, biology, biochemistry, and engineering. The Journal's comprehensive coverage also includes news updates, profiles of global industry and research leaders, and key industry, government, and institute reports.
 * Bioenergy and Biofuels
 * Biomass and Biorefineries
 * Food, Beverage, and Feed Processing
 * Agricultural sciences and Agronomics
 * Nanobiotechnology
 * Synthetic Biology and Genome Engineering
 * Bioremediation
 * Bioprospecting and Marine Biotechnology
 * Cosmeceuticals and Personal Care
 * Biomaterials: Bioplastics, Biofilms
 * Pulp and Paper
 * Textiles
 * Detergents
 * Industrial Enzymes
 * Biodefense
 * Automotive
 * Biological Warfare

[] Summary: Current practice in industrial biotechnology demonstrates that the social (People), environmental (Planet) and economic (Profit) benefits of bio-based processes go hand in hand. Substantial reductions of 17-65% greenhouse gas emissions could be realized, and a more profound shift towards bio-based chemicals could potentially account for up to 20% of the global Kyoto target. The potential economic value of industrial biotechnology for the chemical industry alone is estimated to be € 11-22 billion per annum by 2010. As white biotechnology is making the industry more sustainable, it is expected that benefits will also been seen across a range of critical society-based areas


 * __Posted by:__** C.Colon

The industrial biotechnology community generally accepts an informal divide between industrial and pharmaceutical biotechnology. An example would be that of companies growing fungus to produce antibiotics, e.g. penicillin from the penicillium fungi. One view holds that this is industrial production; the other viewpoint is that it would not strictly lie within the domain of pure industrial production, given its inclusion within medical biotechnology. This may be better understood by calling to mind the classification by the U.S. biotechnology lobby group, [|Biotechnology Industry Organization] (BIO) of three "waves" of biotechnology. The first wave, Green Biotechnology, refers to agricultural biotechnology. The second wave, Red Biotechnology, refers to pharmaceutical and medical biotechnology. The third wave, White Biotechnology, refers to industrial biotechnology. In actuality, each of the waves may overlap each of the others. Industrial biotechnology, particularly the development of large-scale bioenergy refineries, will likely involve dedicated genetically modified crops as well as the large-scale bioprocessing and fermentation as is used in some pharmaceutical production. [|Genencor International] and [|Novozymes] are examples of companies that specialize in industrial biotechnology, with particular focuses on specially designed enzymes to catalyze industrially relevant chemical reactions. //[|Industrial Biotechnology]// is a peer-reviewed research and trade news journal covering this area. Other relevant research publications include //Biomass and Bioenergy// and the //Journal of Industrial Microbiology//. [|EuropaBio], the European Association for Bioindustries, provides a voice for all three sectors (red, green and white) of the biotechnology industry at the EU level. For tens of thousands of years, humans relied on nature to provide them with all the things they needed to make themselves more comfortable. They wove clothes and fabrics from wool, cotton or silk, and dyed them with colours derived from plants and animals. Trees provided the material to build houses, furniture and fittings. But this all changed during the first half of the twentieth century, when organic chemistry developed methods to create many of these products from oil. Oil-derived synthetic polymers, coloured with artificial dyes, soon replaced natural fibres in clothes and fabrics. Plastics rapidly replaced wood and metals in many consumer items, buildings and furniture. However, biology may be about to take revenge on these synthetic, petroleum-based consumer goods. Stricter environmental regulations and the growing mass of non-degradable synthetics in land-fills have made biodegradable products appealing again. Growing concerns about the dependence on imported oil, particularly in the USA, and the awareness that the world's oil supplies are not limitless are additional factors prompting the chemical and biotechnology industries to explore nature's richness in search of methods to replace petroleum-based synthetics White biotechnology refers to biotechnology applied to industrial processes. uses enzymes and organisms for the processing and production of chemicals, materials, and energy. Posted by: Christine Healy
 * Industrial biotechnology** (known mainly in Europe as **white biotechnology**) is the application of [|biotechnology] for industrial purposes, including manufacturing, alternative energy (or "bioenergy"), and biomaterials. It includes the practice of using [|cells] or components of cells like enzymes to generate [|industrially] useful products. //[|The Economist]// speculated (as cited in the //Economist// article listed in the "References" section) industrial biotechnology might significantly impact the [|chemical industry]. //The Economist// also suggested it can enable economies to become less dependent on [|fossil fuels].

White biotechnology is a fast emerging area that concerns itself with the use of biotechnological approaches in the production of bulk and fine chemicals, biofuels, and agricultural products. It is a truly multidisciplinary area and further progress depends critically on the role of chemists. This article outlines the emerging contours of white biotechnology and encourages chemists to take up some of the challenges that this area has thrown up.

So, what is white biotechnology? Three terms related to biotechnology are in use [[|5]]. Red biotechnology deals with the production of high value products (e.g., pharmaceutical proteins), green biotechnology covers the use of plants in biotechnology [[|6]], whilst white biotechnology, involves the use of biotechnology in the production of bulk and fine chemicals [[|7]] such as amino acids, vitamins, antibiotics, enzymes, drugs, organic acids and polymers [[|8],[|9]]. It is appropriate to consider white biotechnology as green chemistry carried out using biotechnology tools [[|10]]. Many people consider green chemistry and industrial biotechnology to be synonyms of white biotechnology. The laudable aim of white biotechnology is to create a sustainable society. While there has been occasional conflict between scientists and environmentalists, white biotechnology should lead to a synergy between these two groups of people. This is because white biotechnology focuses on the development of clean bioprocesses that should lead to "reductions in green house gas emissions, energy and water usage" [[|10]]. An estimate by McKinsey & Company shows that biotechnology could be applied in the production of 10–20% of all chemicals sold by the year 2010. The study predicts that this will be motivated by both cost reduction as well as the promise of additional revenues (via new products and value added processes) [[|10]]. Globally the chemical industry has about 10 million employees and a combined turnover of some €1300 billion [[|11]]. In addition to being a huge source of pollutants, the industry depletes natural resources. The following are some of the key areas in which white biotechnology has shown considerable promise and wherein chemists and biochemists are expected to play an increasing role.



[] Posted by: Z. Renner White biotechnology also concentrates on the production of energy from renewable resources and biomasses. Starch from corn, potatoes, sugar cane and wheat is already used to produce ethanol as a substitute for gasoline—Henry Ford's first car ran on ethanol. Today, some motor fuel sold in Brazil is pure ethanol derived from sugar cane, and the rest has a 20% ethanol content. In the USA, 10% of all motor fuel sold is a mixture of 90% petrol and 10% ethanol. According to the [|Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's 2001] report on biotechnology and industrial sustainability, the USA now has 58 fuel plants, which produce almost 6 billion litres of ethanol per year. []
 * [|White biotechnology]**, also known as industrial biotechnology, is biotechnology applied to [|industrial] processes. An example is the designing of an organism to produce a useful chemical. Another example is the using of [|enzymes] as industrial [|catalysts] to either produce valuable chemicals or destroy hazardous/polluting chemicals. White biotechnology tends to consume less in resources than traditional processes used to produce industrial goods.[//[|citation needed]//] The investment and economic output of all of these types of applied biotechnologies is termed as **[|bioeconomy]**.