Sankalpa Kumar Rout Date: 19th Feb 2021

IGSM/PG2021/0068
PLP Group – 04

Learning from PRME sessions: Biotechnology

My learning from today’s session was as follows:

The hope for environmental sustainability- The environment is a very important necessary for
the existence of both man and other biotics organisms. The degree of sustainability of physical
environment is an index of survival and wellbeing of the entire components in it. Deteriorating
humans and ecosystem health is a characteristic of unsustainable development. Biotechnology is
being considered as an emerging science for environmental protection and to support
sustainable development in different aspect.
Relevance of research:
As the earth’s human population has increased, natural ecosystem has faced the highest decline
and damage. The use of bio tools has shown an exciting and rapidly developing field to
achieving the deserved outcome in the environment. Bioremediation, a most promising eco-
friendly environment cleanup technology.
Use of Genetic Engineering for efficient bioremediation:
Contaminated sites, whether on land or in aquatic environments are increasingly becoming a
frequent sight. This is due to rapid increase in population and a fast pace of technological
advancement. So direct consequence of such large-scale contamination is loss of sources for
fresh air and water. On the other hand, exposure to dangerous chemicals lead to loss of
natural habitat and its accompanying natural resources (2). Several strategies have been
applied time and again to control or restore such polluted habitats. However these methods
are either cost-intensive or inefficient in eliminating the pollutant. In such scenarios,
bioremediation can be one of the best solutions to mitigate incidences such as:

• accidental oil spills,

• release of mining run-offs,

• discharge of sewage,

• discharge from industries and

• soil contamination with pesticides,

Therefore, significant research is needed to establish the efficiency of bioremediation

techniques in mitigating large scale environmental pollution.
Traditional method of remediation
Traditional methods of cleaning up polluted habitats includes both physical and chemical
methods. In traditional method, cleaning is done by removing of the contaminated material
from the site and remediating it under controlled conditions. Another way is to directly treat
at the site. However, such physicochemical remediation techniques are either expensive or
highly destructive, thereby creating more harm than good.
As shown in the table below, a wide range of pollutants are present in nature which includes
land, groundwater, oceans and other waterbodies. These pollutants have been remediated
traditionally using either physical or chemical methods. This is done either by diluting the
pollutant or achieving chemical transformation.
Microbial Bioremediation
Since microorganisms possess the most diverse metabolic potential among living organisms
capable of metabolism a large range of pollutants and chemicals. Also, they are the ideal
agents for remediation of contaminated sites. Different microbial strains have been
discovered possessing metabolizing properties for remediating a wide range of chemicals
such as, hydrocarbons, heavy metals, radioactive metals and recalcitrant compounds.
In addition, white-rot fungi have been known for their metabolizing power in treating
xenobiotic and recalcitrant compounds. As a result of their ability to withstand a large range
of pH and because of the complex enzyme system they help in the availability of the
pollutants. However, main advantage of using microbes for bioremediation includes:

• ease of application on the contaminated site.

• minimum disruption of the site.

• permanent removal of pollutant.

• less harmful by-products as compared to other methods.

• applicability in wide range of abiotic factors.

• more accepted by public than the other methods.

Limitations of bioremediation
Prior to selection of a particular bioremediation technique, extensive research is required for
isolation and optimization of optimal microbes. Furthermore, their performance assessment
in terms of cost effectiveness and performance on-field should also be analyzed.
Consequently, these microbial bioremediation techniques often require particular
combinations of biotic and abiotic factors. In addition, sometimes they face the threat of
competition with indigenous microbial consortium. Consequently, implications of
introduction of microorganisms in the contaminated site during remediation are difficult to
predict. This makes it difficult to assess the safety of such methods. Furthermore, all these
factors have to be considered during practical application of bioremediation techniques in
cleaning up of contaminated sites.

Target areas of genetic engineering in phytoremediation

Plants are capable of uptake of pollutants. However, they don’t have the necessary
mechanism for metabolizing or mineralizing them but this is where phytoremediation fills
the gap. The term ‘phytoremediation’ refers to using plants and their associated microbes to
clean up toxic substances in the environment. Plants can achieve this through
phytoextraction, phytovolatilization, detoxification and sequestration. Those suitable for
phytoextraction possess the following qualities:

• high capacities for absorption,

• root or shoot translocation,

• detoxification of the metals or non-metals to be extracted and

• a high biomass and preferably a rapid growth rate.

Using genetic engineering capable of uptake, transport or metabolism of pollutants can be

introduced in plants. As a result, such genetically modified plants can then show higher
efficiencies in remediation. Therefore, relevant genes from bacterial sources can be
genetically engineered into candidate plants. This will enable successful metabolizing of
pollutants.

Future prospects
A popular way of increasing the efficacy of bioremediation is through the use of genetic
engineering. This will produce microorganisms capable of degrading specific contaminants.
Another way is to enhance such processes in the native organisms. However, researchers
need to access and predict the consequences before releasing a GMO into the environment.
In order to determine how released GMOs are affecting the environment, it is necessary to be
able to detect and enumerate them in complex samples. In addition to the GMO itself, it is
useful to track the recombinant DNA with which the GMO has been engineered. This will
help monitor potential loss of these genes and their possible horizontal transfer to other
microorganisms.

Genetic manipulation in plants

Genetic manipulation in plants has aimed to improve accumulation, tolerance and
detoxification capacities of high biomass and rapidly growing plants. As a result,
optimization of phytoextraction process takes place. With respect to heavy metal
phytoremediation, (MT) genes have been cloned. They have also been introduced into several
plant species. Photoheating are short and cysteine-rich peptides. They offer many advantages
over metallothionein’s due to their structural characteristics and higher metal binding
capacity. For example, transfer of human gene in tobacco or rapeseed resulted in plants with
enhances Cadmium tolerance. The target areas also include metal transporters known to alter
metal tolerance and accumulation in plants.
A unique source of phytoremediation technology is also the properties of plant growth
promoting rhizobacteria. They provide several mechanisms of increased phytoremediation to
the plant.