Industrial and environmental applications
Modern biotechnology has potential to increase industrial applications whilst reducing the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing and processing. In industrial biotechnology, man tries to modify and adapt biological organisms,
processes, products and systems to produce goods and services in industrial processes. This results in increased efficiency and reduced emissions of Green House Gases into the atmosphere. Examples of environmental applications of biotechnology include bioremediation. This refers to the use of living organisms, mostly bacteria, to clean up waste. This is based on the understanding that some bacteria thrive on chemicals found in waste and in the process break these down into harmless and sometimes even useful substances such as methane. An example here is oil-eating bacteria which are capable of breaking down oil. These are useful for cleaning up oil spillages.