Enabling commercial success of industrial biotechnology.

Commercial-scale research translation has been muted.

Bioengineered biochar as smart candidate for resource recovery toward circular bio-economy: a review.

Biochar's ability to mediate and facilitate microbial contamination degradation, as well as its carbon-sequestration potential, has sparked interest in recent years. The scope, possible advantages (economic and environmental), and future views are all evaluated in this review. We go over the many designed processes that are taking place and show why it is critical to look into biochar production for resource recovery and the role of bioengineered biochar in waste recycling. We concentrate on current breakthroughs in the fields of engineered biochar application techniques to systematically and sustainable technology. As a result, this paper describes the use of biomass for biochar production using various methods, as well as its use as an effective inclusion material to increase performance. The impact of biochar amendments on microbial colonisation, direct interspecies electron transfer, organic load minimization, and buffering maintenance is explored in detail. The majority of organic and inorganic (heavy metals) contaminants in the environment today are caused by human activities, such as mining and the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which can be treated sustainably by using engineered biochar to promote the establishment of a sustainable engineered process by inducing the circular bioeconomy.

Transforming biorefinery designs with 'Plug-In Processes of Lignin' to enable economic waste valorization.

Biological lignin valorization has emerged as a major solution for sustainable and cost-effective biorefineries. However, current biorefineries yield lignin with inadequate fractionation for bioconversion, yet substantial changes of these biorefinery designs to focus on lignin could jeopardize carbohydrate efficiency and increase capital costs. We resolve the dilemma by designing 'plug-in processes of lignin' with the integration of leading pretreatment technologies. Substantial improvement of lignin bioconversion and synergistic enhancement of carbohydrate processing are achieved by solubilizing lignin via lowering molecular weight and increasing hydrophilic groups, addressing the dilemma of lignin- or carbohydrate-first scenarios. The plug-in processes of lignin could enable minimum polyhydroxyalkanoate selling price at as low as $6.18/kg. The results highlight the potential to achieve commercial production of polyhydroxyalkanoates as a co-product of cellulosic ethanol. Here, we show that the plug-in processes of lignin could transform biorefinery design toward sustainability by promoting carbon efficiency and optimizing the total capital cost.

Enabling the Advanced Bioeconomy through Public Policy Supporting Biofoundries and Engineering Biology.

The bioeconomy concept is proliferating globally. However, the enabling roles of biotechnology may be getting sidelined in the strategies of some countries. A goal for engineering biology is alignment with the engineering design cycle to enable more rapid commercialization. This paper considers several policy options to remove critical technical barriers to commercialization.

Using a Teaching Intervention and Calibrated Peer Review™ Diagnostics to Improve Visual Communication Skills.

Rice University's bioengineering department incorporates written, oral, and visual communication instruction into its undergraduate curriculum to aid student learning and to prepare students to communicate their knowledge and discoveries precisely and persuasively. In a tissue culture lab course, we used a self- and peer-review tool called Calibrated Peer Review™ (CPR) to diagnose student learning gaps in visual communication skills on a poster assignment. We then designed an active learning intervention that required students to practice the visual communication skills that needed improvement and used CPR to measure the changes. After the intervention, we observed that students performed significantly better in their ability to develop high quality graphs and tables that represent experimental data. Based on these outcomes, we conclude that guided task practice, collaborative learning, and calibrated peer review can be used to improve engineering students' visual communication skills.

Lanthipeptides: chemical synthesis versus in vivo biosynthesis as tools for pharmaceutical production.

Lanthipeptides (also called lantibiotics for those with antibacterial activities) are ribosomally synthesized post-translationally modified peptides having thioether cross-linked amino acids, lanthionines, as a structural element. Lanthipeptides have conceivable potentials to be used as therapeutics, however, the lack of stable, high-yield, well-characterized processes for their sustainable production limit their availability for clinical studies and further pharmaceutical commercialization. Though many reviews have discussed the various techniques that are currently employed to produce lanthipeptides, a direct comparison between these methods to assess industrial applicability has not yet been described. In this review we provide a synoptic comparison of research efforts on total synthesis and in vivo biosynthesis aimed at fostering lanthipeptides production. We further examine current applications and propose measures to enhance product yields. Owing to their elaborate chemical structures, chemical synthesis of these biomolecules is economically less feasible for large-scale applications, and hence biological production seems to be the only realistic alternative.

Engineering biological systems toward a sustainable bioeconomy.

The nature of our major global risks calls for sustainable innovations to decouple economic growth from greenhouse gases emission. The development of sustainable technologies has been negatively impacted by several factors including sugar production costs, production scale, economic crises, hydraulic fracking development and the market inability to capture externality costs. However, advances in engineering of biological systems allow bridging the gap between exponential growth of knowledge about biology and the creation of sustainable value chains for a broad range of economic sectors. Additionally, industrial symbiosis of different biobased technologies can increase competitiveness and sustainability, leading to the development of eco-industrial parks. Reliable policies for carbon pricing and revenue reinvestments in disruptive technologies and in the deployment of eco-industrial parks could boost the welfare while addressing our major global risks toward the transition from a fossil to a biobased economy.

Trade-Offs in Improving Biofuel Tolerance Using Combinations of Efflux Pumps.

Microbes can be engineered to produce next-generation biofuels; however, the accumulation of toxic biofuels can limit yields. Previous studies have shown that efflux pumps can increase biofuel tolerance and improve production. Here, we asked whether expressing multiple pumps in combination could further increase biofuel tolerance. Pump overexpression inhibits cell growth, suggesting a trade-off between biofuel and pump toxicity. With multiple pumps, it is unclear how the fitness landscape is impacted. To address this, we measured tolerance of Escherichia coli to the biojet fuel precursor α-pinene in one-pump and two-pump strains. To support our experiments, we developed a mathematical model describing toxicity due to biofuel and overexpression of pumps. We found that data from one-pump strains can accurately predict the performance of two-pump strains. This result suggests that it may be possible to dramatically reduce the number of experiments required for characterizing the effects of combined biofuel tolerance mechanisms.

Conscience dilemma: to become a bioengineer or to survive as a biologist.

Bioengineering is the consideration of biological problems from modern engineering, therefore money-oriented, perspective. Today, grant-giving bodies always favor bioengineering projects rather than pure biology projects (like those in ecology, entomology, etc.). Therefore, today's biologist is forced to be on the horns of a dilemma. They have to either submit a very powerful and valid reason for the proposal of their project, or change the project to one having a potential of money-based outcome. On the other hand, because of dealing with the living components of nature, conducting a research in pure biology is like a kind of worship. For this reason, from a believer scientist's view, a deviation (in terms of research) from biology to bioengineering can be considered like committing a sin. Unfortunately, today's wild capitalism has been bringing new sinners day by day, and this system will continue for the foreseeable future unless grant-giving bodies comprehend the real importance of pure biology.

Thirty years of European biotechnology programmes: from biomolecular engineering to the bioeconomy.

This article traces back thirty years of biotechnology research sponsored by the European Union (EU). It outlines the crucial role played by De Nettancourt, Goffeau and Van Hoeck to promote and prepare the first European programme on biotechnology (1982-1986) run by the European Commission. Following this first biotechnology programme, others followed until the current one, part of the seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (2007-2013) (FP7). Particular attention is given to the statutory role of the European institutions in the design and orientation of the successive biotechnology programmes, compared to the more informal-yet visionary-role of key individuals upstream to any legislative decision. Examples of success stories and of the role of the biotechnology programmes in addressing societal issues and industrial competitiveness are also presented. Finally, an outline of Horizon 2020, the successor of FP7, is described, together with the role of biotechnology in building the bioeconomy.

Bioengineered vascular graft with autologous stem cells: first use in the clinic. Interview with Michael Olausson.

Michael Olausson talks to Regenerative Medicine about the pioneering clinical use of a bioengineered vascular graft to treat a 9-year-old girl with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction and the future potential of bioengineered vessels. Michael Olausson has been Professor of Transplantation Surgery at Gothenburg University (Gothenburg, Sweden) since 2000, and was Chairman of the Sahlgrenska Transplant Institute at Sahlgrenska University Hospital (Gothenburg, Sweden) between 1994 and June 2011. His scientific interests include transplant immunology and experimental and clinical transplantation studies. He has published over 240 original articles, reviews and book chapters in the field of transplantation. He has been invited as a speaker at several national and international meetings all over the world. He has pioneered several innovative surgical procedures in the Nordic countries, Europe and the rest of the world. Last year, he performed the first operation in the world using a stem cell-derived vein and recently he performed the two first mother-to-daughter live donor uterus transplantations in the world, together with a team from Gothenburg. In the past, he has been President of The Swedish Transplantation Society, and board member and Vice President of the European Liver and Intestinal Transplantation Association. In 2008 he received the Carl-Gustav Groth Scandinavian Transplant Prize.

Maintaining a relevant, up-to-date capstone design course.

Senior capstone design courses can be extremely helpful in preparing biomedical engineering students for careers in engineering and other fields. They allow students to develop communication, teamwork, and other transferable technical and nontechnical skills. They can also make students aware of the (1) legal, regulatory, economic, environmental, and social/political constraints of medical device design, (2) contemporary issues related to biomedical engineering and health care, and (3) the latest trends and tools in new product development and project management.