Hawaii Conference Highlights Another Consumer Benefit of
Biotechnology


WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 The Biotechnology Industry Organization
(BIO) is hosting the Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology
and Bioenergy Jan. 11-13, 2006 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach
Resort and Spa in Honolulu to explore the third wave in
biotechnology -- industrial and environmental biotechnology, which
is the use of life science technologies to improve manufacturing
processes. "Biotechnology is creating a new industrial revolution
based on biology instead of petroleum. As biotech processes replace
old rust belt technologies, they are enabling a transformation from
a petroleum-based economy to a biobased economy," states Brent
Erickson, executive vice president of BIO's Industrial and
Environmental Section.

Industrial enzymes are already being used to make a number of
consumer
products better. Most detergents contain enzymes that help remove
food and
grass stains and get our clothes cleaner, even when cold wash water
is used.
Contact lens cleaners utilize biotech enzymes to remove tough
protein deposits
from lenses. Enzymes can be used to bleach paper products replacing
the use of
toxic chlorine. There are enzymes used to keep bread from going
stale and to
make the high-fructose sweeteners in our juice and soft drinks.
Biotech can also be used to make ethanol for our cars and
plastics for
consumer products out of agriculture waste products instead of crude
oil. The
United States currently makes about 4 billion gallons of ethanol a
year from
grain, primarily corn. New biotechnology processes are now available
that
could produce over 70 billion gallons of ethanol a year from
cellulose-
containing crop residues, such as corn stover and stalks, sugar cane
bagasse,
wheat straw and rice straw. Biotech-improved enzymes convert the
cellulose to
sugars that can be fermented into ethanol.
Biotech enzymes are also being used to transform the chemical
industry.
Enzyme biocatalysts are used as substitutes for chemicals in many
manufacturing processes, reducing process costs, the amount of
energy used to
make products, and the amount of greenhouse gases emitted. "When
companies
change a process from a chemical synthesis process to a
biotechnology process
and use enzymes, they actually prevent pollution from being
generated because
toxic chemicals are no longer required to make a product," said
Erickson.
All living systems, including microorganisms, produce enzymes
that act as
biocatalysts to perform a myriad of chemical functions in living
cells.
Industrial biotechnology involves working with nature to optimize
existing
biochemical systems -- that can replace traditional chemical
processes in
manufacturing. Scientists use biotech techniques to research
microorganisms --
ranging from bacteria, yeasts, and fungi to marine diatoms and
protozoa -- to
identify and produce enzymes for manufacturing, environmental
cleanup, and
other industrial applications.
BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic
institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations
across the
United States and 31 other nations. BIO members are involved in the
research
and development of healthcare, agricultural, industrial and
environmental
biotechnology products.

SOURCE Biotechnology Industry Organization
Web Site: http://www.bio.org

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