Biotechnology and moreover its applications in medicine, pharmaceuticals and related industries represent one of the most defining developments of the 21st Century, with its profound impact on political, societal, and ethical issues. Overall in the last decade, biotechnology has travelled beyond previously known boundaries of scientific imagination, by understanding biology and garnering the nature inspired leads to eradicate and mitigate even the most dreaded diseases known to mankind. Biotechnology finds its application to reduce the pollution footprint, to sophisticate and transform the way a wide range of chemicals and pharmaceuticals were manufactured.
Pharmaceutical biotechnology focuses on biotechnology with pharmaceutical relevance as the central dogma of fusing chemistry and biology to reinvent and replace less efficient processes by more efficient green manufacturing practices. While the pursuit of environmental impact improvement remains at the core of green manufacturing progress, it also seeks to achieve two other mainstays of manufacturing output, viz. economic and product centric benefits.
One of the pharmaceutical processes, which have witnessed a dramatic change due to biotechnology and its application, is the entire value chain of penicillin G based antibiotics and their derivatives. Penicillin G, the first generation fungal antibiotic as we all know is undoubtedly one of the greatest gifts to mankind. History is witness to the fact that during World War II, penicillin made a major difference in the number of deaths and amputations caused by infected wounds among the allied forces, thus saving an estimated 12 to 15 per cent of lives. Needless to mention that till date penicillin G based antibiotics continue to contribute significantly in managing infectious diseases.
The main building block, 6-APA derived from penicillin G is probably one of the important milestone of pharmaceutical biotechnology where in enzymes (viz. Penicillin G amidase) were used at industrial scale. By adding different side groups, this core building block allowed the scientists to chemically synthesize antibiotics like Ampicillin, Amoxicillin, Methicillin, Cloxacillin etc., which were useful in treating a wide range of infections. With the advent of Novel Penicillin G Amidase(s), a new revolution has begun wherein the hazardous chemical processes have been simplified into eco-friendly, cost-effective process for the mass production of Ampicillin and Amoxicillin. In its quest to serve mankind, the future of biotechnology looks brighter in providing more integrated and customized technology platforms.
From the ancient days of antibiotic invention, as early as 500 BC in China where moldy soybean curd was used in treating boils or making bread and wine, mankind has significantly moved ahead in biotechnology. The tryst with biotechnology has witnessed the discovery of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), “the genetic blueprint of life” to its effective manipulation for directed evolution of life form. Today, the leaps achieved in biotechnology has metamorphosed and become an integral part in healthcare, food, chemical, agriculture and environmental sectors. Whether biotechnology is a boon or a bane is a topic which has been debated for a considerable period of time, right from the days of making bread and wine to the recent days of BT crops – Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) crops are crops that are genetically engineered to produce the same toxin as Bt in every cell of the plant with the goal of protecting the crop from pests.
Current global population level and its continuous growth means increased demand on all resources. All natural resources except for biological ones are limited and cannot be replenished. Moreover, while the debate on whether biotechnology is a solution or a problem continues, it is well established that usage of all other natural resources does lead to change in ecological conditions and impacts the environment. This makes it very clear that biotechnology should be pursued aggressively not only to replace current polluting technologies but also to bridge the gap between availability of all natural resources and the demand. Biological resources are such that they can be quickly replenished thus making their availability abundant which can help cater to the growing population demand.
Research and implementation of biotechnology has proven that it can be effectively utilized across several areas of applications. In most cases this turns out to be a cost effective solution as compared to other many technologies while also showing significant reduction in environmental damage.
While, biotechnology implementation has made huge strides globally across different fields, the point to note is the contribution it has done in food security. According to the United Nations, food production will have to rise by 50 per cent by the year 2030 to meet the demands of a growing population while availability of arable land for agriculture is fast diminishing. In addition to this, the risk of losing existing available arable land mass due to global warming poses a grave threat. Agricultural biotechnology has shown to multiply crop production by several folds in some developing countries, far beyond the production capabilities of traditional agriculture, and the global community is slowly adapting this technology amidst concern for safety and ecological impact.
Significant progress has also been made in using biotechnology (living organisms) for applications in the field of electronics varying from data transfer and storage to signaling and messaging. Of course utmost caution is required before implementation of any technology whether biotechnology or chemical or nuclear.
Fermenta Biotech has been one of the pioneers in India to introduce biotechnology solutions in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Since its inception in 1986, the company has been supplying enzyme products aimed at providing alternative production platform for antibiotic production as compared to the conventional polluting chemical processes. The company's first generation Penicillin G acylase enzyme catalysts are used in the production of intermediates like 6-APA /7-ADCA, the building blocks for major antibiotics like amoxicillin, ampicillin and cephalosporins. Its next generation enzyme catalysts have now been successfully demonstrated to be an excellent replacement for further processing the above mentioned intermediates into the final antibiotics as compared to the way these antibiotics are otherwise produced through conventional chemical processes.
Identifying the need in India for effective solutions to the huge environmental issues which have been neglected for decades, Fermenta Biotech has started offering biotechnology solutions for addressing pollution related problems in this sector. Over the past few years, Fermenta has been successfully offering its biotechnology products and solutions for the treatment of sewage water across the country. In addition, the company offers biotechnology products and solutions for rejuvenation of polluted water bodies, treatment of effluents from sugar and dairy industry, oil sludge etc. the company also offers solutions for treatment of ash from thermal power plants and slag from the steel industry.
(Author is the managing director of Fermenta Biotech)