Bio-Based Chemistry & White Biotechnology
Bio-based chemistry is defined as the collective chemical and engineering principles and techniques that allows the manufacturing of various chemicals using plant-derived raw materials.
The field of white biotechnology or industrial biotechnology aims to produce chemicals (biofuels, amino acids, intermediaries, etc.) by using enzymes or bacteria that act as veritable cellular factories. These micro-organisms, selected on the basis of very specific criteria, make it possible to transform plant-derived materials (glucose or sugar extracted from grains, corn, or sugar cane) into platform molecules that can be converted cost-effectively into useful products via established or innovative chemical routes.
Modern molecular biology, microbiology, and bio-informatic technologies make it possible to tailor the best bacterial strains and considerably lower production costs. Companies such as Bio-amber are clearly positioned to exploit white biotechnology and to bring innovative and environmentally-sound alternatives to petrochemicals.
Because of the variety of applications in which white biotechnology can be used, its renewable nature, and its economic advantages, it is a key tool in the development of sustainable industries. This is one of the reasons why the European Commission has identified life sciences, white biotechnology in particular, as the next knowledge-based economic wave to follow the information technology revolution.
For more information Europabio web site