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Background: The bioeconomy, an evolving concept promoting sustainable use of renewable biological resources, confronts the challenge of balancing growth and sustainability across sectors like biotechnology, agriculture, and forestry. This study aims to elucidate the bioeconomy's dynamic nature, constructing a comprehensive theoretical model addressing these complexities., Methodology: Through an extensive literature review, foundational elements for this model were identified: defining the core concept, delineating relevant variables, specifying assumptions and parameters, and depicting relationships through equations or diagrams. Special attention was given to integrating Georgescu-Roegen's insights, emphasizing causal links, state variables, measurement scales, and validation plans., Results: The model incorporates Georgescu-Roegen's insights, highlighting the importance of clearly defining the bioeconomy for a comprehensive understanding. The proposed model leverages variables, assumptions, and equations within Georgescu-Roegen's framework, serving as a crucial tool for researchers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders. This approach facilitates research structuring, informed decision-making, and interdisciplinary collaboration., Conclusion: By addressing the bioeconomy's evolution, and cross-sectional boundaries, and adopting a broader perspective, this study contributes to policy development for a more sustainable and integrated bioeconomy. Based on empirical knowledge, this model provides not only a solid theoretical framework but also practical guidelines for advancing toward a balanced and resilient bioeconomy., Competing Interests: No authors have competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 Zuniga-Gonzalez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Laboratory automation with robot-assisted processes enhances synthetic biology, but its economic impact on projects is uncertain. We have proposed an experiment price index (EPI) for a quantitative comparison of factors in time, cost, and sample numbers, helping measure the efficiency of laboratory automation in synthetic biology and biomolecular engineering., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests H.M.W. declares no competing financial interest. J.K. has financial interests in Amyris, Ansa Biotechnologies, Apertor Pharma, Berkeley Yeast, Biomia, Cyklos Materials, Demetrix, Lygos, Napigen, ResVita Bio, and Zero Acre Farms., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Despite the lack of research, development, and innovation funds, especially in South Atlantic countries, the Atlantic is suited to supporting a sustainable marine bioeconomy. Novel low-carbon mariculture systems can provide food security, new drugs, and climate mitigation. We suggest how to develop this sustainable marine bioeconomy across the entire Atlantic., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests None are declared by the authors., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background Aims: To better understand the attitudes and behaviors of investors involved in funding cell and gene therapy (CGT) businesses, the Business Development and Finance) subcommittee of International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy, in collaboration with Truist Securities, conducted a broad survey of the investment community in late 2021., Methods: This survey follows a similar study that this group executed in 2018, and the longitudinal comparisons between the two time periods provide insights into how investor behavior in the CGT field has evolved., Results: The vast majority of investor respondents are specialist biotech investors who are primarily active in deploying capital in North America and Europe. There was a notable increase in the proportion of investors actively deploying capital in China and Japan between 2018 and 2021. The percentage of respondents' portfolios dedicated to CGT companies has also increased in this period, reflecting a noteworthy trend in the therapeutic landscape., Conclusions: Clinically significant data remain the dominant force behind investment decisions, whereas competition from other drug modalities has now emerged as the most-cited barrier to making a CGT investment, eclipsing safety concerns as the most significant barrier to investment in 2018. Concerns around manufacturing and scale-up have also increased in prominence amongst the investment community. Gene-editing technologies are attracting investors as the most compelling new CGT technology. This survey also revealed that most investors expect to increase their level of investment in allogeneic technologies relative to autologous products in the coming years., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no commercial, proprietary or financial interest in the products or companies described in this article., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Thraustochytrids are marine microorganisms known for their fast growth and ability to store lipids, making them useful for producing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), biodiesel, squalene, and carotenoids. However, the high cost of production, mainly due to expensive fermentation components, limits their wider use. A significant challenge in this context is the need to balance production costs with the value of the end products. This review focuses on integrating the efficient utilization of waste with Thraustochytrids fermentation, including the economic substitution of carbon sources, nitrogen sources, and fermentation water. This approach aligns with the 3Rs principles (reduction, recycling, and reuse). Furthermore, it emphasizes the role of Thraustochytrids in converting waste into lipid chemicals and promoting sustainable circular production models. The aim of this review is to emphasize the value of Thraustochytrids in converting waste into treasure, providing precise cost reduction strategies for future commercial production., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Biomanufacturing practitioners and researchers describe the norms that should govern the growing, global field, to include safety, security, sustainability, and social responsibility. These '4S Principles' should be broadly adopted so that the future of the field may provide the greatest benefits to society., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests No interests are declared., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This work proposes a process design and techno-economic assessment for the production of γ-valerolactone from lignocellulosic derived fructose at industrial scale, with the aim of exploring its feasibility, identifying potential obstacles, and suggesting improvements in the context of France. First, the conceptual process design is developed, the process modelled and optimized. Second, different potential scenarios for the energy supply to the process are analyzed by means of a set of economic key performance indicators, aimed at highlighting the best potential profitability scenario for the sustainable exploitation of waste biomass in the context analyzed. The lowest Minimum Selling Price for GVL is obtained at 10 kt/y plant fueled by biomass, i.e. 1.89 €/kg, along with the highest end-of-live revenue, i.e. 113 M€. Finally, a sensitivity and uncertainties analysis, based on Monte Carlo simulations, are carried out on the results in order to test their robustness with respect to key input parameters., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Daniele DI MENNO DI BUCCHIANICO reports financial support was provided by Normandie Université. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Textile and medical effluents causing bioaccumulation and biomagnification have been successfully biodegraded by fungal laccases. Here, a decision-making tool was developed and applied to evaluate 45 different laccase production strategies which determined the best potential source from a techno-economical perspective. Laccase production cost was calculated with a fixed output of 10 9 enzymatic units per batch (USD$per10 9 U) and a sensitivity analysis was performed. Results indicate that optimization of enzymatic kinetics for each organism is essential to avoid exceeding the fermentation time point at which production titer reaches its peak and, therefore, higher production costs. Overall, the most cost-effective laccase-producing strategy was obtained when using Pseudolagarobasidium acaciicola with base production cost of USD $42.46 per 10 9 U. This works serves as platform for decision-making to find the optimal laccase production strategy based on techno-economic parameters., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bioindustrial manufacturing is undergoing rapid expansion and investment and is seen as integral to nations' economic progress. Ensuring that bioindustrial manufacturing benefits society as the field expands is of critical, urgent importance. To better understand the industry's ethical trajectory and to shape policy, we explored the views of biotechnology leaders on four aspects of ethical and social responsibility-safety, security, social responsibility, and sustainability-what we have termed "4S principles." We identified policy actions governments and other stakeholders may take to maximize societal benefits in industrial biotechnology., Importance: We analyzed biotech leaders' views on safety, security, social responsibility, and sustainability to recommend policies to maximize benefits and economic growth., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Bioreactors are advanced biomanufacturing tools that have been widely used to develop various applications in the fields of health care and cellular agriculture. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of bioreactors to enhance the efficiency and scalability of these technologies. In cell therapy, bioreactors have been used to expand and differentiate cells into specialized cell types that can be used for transplantation or tissue regeneration. In cultured meat production, bioreactors offer a controlled and efficient means of producing meat without the need for animal farming. Bioreactors can support the growth of muscle cells by providing the necessary conditions for cell proliferation, differentiation, and maturation, including the provision of oxygen and nutrients. This review article aims to provide an overview of the current state of bioreactor technology in both cell therapy and cultured meat production. It will examine the various bioreactor types and their applications in these fields, highlighting their advantages and limitations. In addition, it will explore the future prospects and challenges of bioreactor technology in these emerging fields. Overall, this review will provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners interested in using bioreactor technology to develop innovative solutions in the biomanufacturing of therapeutic cells and cultured meat.

Plants and microbes share common metabolic pathways for producing a range of bioproducts that are potentially foundational to the future bioeconomy. However, in planta accumulation and microbial production of bioproducts have never been systematically compared on an economic basis to identify optimal routes of production. A detailed technoeconomic analysis of four exemplar compounds (4-hydroxybenzoic acid [4-HBA], catechol, muconic acid, and 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid [PDC]) is conducted with the highest reported yields and accumulation rates to identify economically advantaged platforms and breakeven targets for plants and microbes. The results indicate that in planta mass accumulation ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 dry weight % (dwt%) can achieve costs comparable to microbial routes operating at 40 to 55% of maximum theoretical yields. These yields and accumulation rates are sufficient to be cost competitive if the products are sold at market prices consistent with specialty chemicals ($20 to $50/kg). Prices consistent with commodity chemicals will require an order-of-magnitude-greater accumulation rate for plants and/or yields nearing theoretical maxima for microbial production platforms. This comparative analysis revealed that the demonstrated accumulation rates of 4-HBA (3.2 dwt%) and PDC (3.0 dwt%) in engineered plants vastly outperform microbial routes, even if microbial platforms were to reach theoretical maximum yields. Their recovery and sale as part of a lignocellulosic biorefinery could enable biofuel prices to be competitive with petroleum. Muconic acid and catechol, in contrast, are currently more attractive when produced microbially using a sugar feedstock. Ultimately, both platforms can play an important role in replacing fossil-derived products.

The pulp and biorefining industries produce their waste as lignin, which is one of the most abundant renewable resources. So far, lignin has been remained severely underutilized and generally burnt in a boiler as a low-value fuel. To demonstrate lignin's potential as a value-added product, we will review market opportunities for lignin related applications by utilizing the thermo-chemical/biological depolymerization strategies (with or without catalysts) and their comparative evaluation. The application of lignin and its derived aromatics in various sectors such as cement industry, bitumen modifier, energy materials, agriculture, nanocomposite, biomedical, H 2 source, biosensor and bioimaging have been summarized. This comprehensive review article also highlights the technical, economic, environmental, and socio-economic variable that affect the market value of lignin-derived by-products. The review shows the importance of lignin, and its derived products are a platform for future bioeconomy and sustainability., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Commercial-scale research translation has been muted.

The current fossil fuel reserves are not sufficient to meet the increasing demand and very soon will become exhausted. Pollution, global warming, and inflated oil prices have led the quest for renewable energy sources. Macroalgae (green, brown, and red marine seaweed) is gaining popularity as a viable and promising renewable source for biofuels production. Numerous researches have been conducted to access the potential of macroalgae for generating diverse bioproducts such as biofuels. The existence of components such as carbohydrates and lipids, and the lack or deficiency of lignin, create macroalgae an enviable feedstock for biofuels generation. This review briefly covers the potential macroalgal species promoting the production of biofuels and their cultivation methods. It also illustrates the biofuel generation pathway and its efficiency along with the recent techniques to accelerate the product yield. In addition, the current analysis focuses on a cost-effective sustainable generation of biofuel along with commercialization and scaleup.

The scientific ecosystem relies on citation-based metrics that provide only imperfect, inconsistent and easily manipulated measures of research quality. Here we describe DELPHI (Dynamic Early-warning by Learning to Predict High Impact), a framework that provides an early-warning signal for 'impactful' research by autonomously learning high-dimensional relationships among features calculated across time from the scientific literature. We prototype this framework and deduce its performance and scaling properties on time-structured publication graphs from 1980 to 2019 drawn from 42 biotechnology-related journals, including over 7.8 million individual nodes, 201 million relationships and 3.8 billion calculated metrics. We demonstrate the framework's performance by correctly identifying 19/20 seminal biotechnologies from 1980 to 2014 via a blinded retrospective study and provide 50 research papers from 2018 that DELPHI predicts will be in the top 5% of time-rescaled node centrality in the future. We propose DELPHI as a tool to aid in the construction of diversified, impact-optimized funding portfolios., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Taking into account that the industrial processing of passion fruit generates significant amounts of waste (only the peels represent 51% of the total mass of the fruit), in the present study an economic analysis was conducted to evaluate industrial line viability for pectin extraction from passion fruit peels. Knowing that absolute ethanol (99.50% purity), used in the precipitation and washing steps, has a higher cost, a simulation of extractive distillation was performed using solvents ethylene glycol and glycerol, in the software Aspen Plus v.11, being possible to recover 99.63% of ethanol for both solvents. The results of the economic evaluation showed that the process using ethylene glycol has an advantage, mainly due to its higher profitability (1.13 times higher), lower production cost (94.86% of the price using glycerol), and a lower breakeven point (around 3% smaller). The financial indicators showed profitability and attractiveness for the implementation of this processing line.

The development of new strategies in microalgal studies represents an outstanding opportunity to mitigate environmental problems coupled with biomass production at a reduced cost. Here we present a combined bioprocess for the treatment of rice vinasse using immobilized cyanobacteria Synechococcus pevalekii in alginate beads followed by the use of the treated vinasse as a culture medium for Dunaliella salina biomass production. Cyanobacterial-alginate beads showed a chlorophyll a production of 0.68 × 10 -3  mg bead -1 and a total carotenoid production of 0.64 × 10 -3  mg bead -1 . The first step showed a decrease in nitrate (91%), total solids (29%), and ions. Addition of treated vinasse into D. salina cultivation resulted in a significant increase in cell replication of about 175% (optimized cultivation). The use of natural seawater drastically reduced the medium cost to US$4.75 per m 3 and the addition of treated vinasse has the potential to reduce it even more (up to 69%). This study not only provides an insight on the use of cyanobacteria for rice vinasse treatment but also demonstrates a promising lower-cost medium for marine microalgal biomass production with biotechnological purposes.

Bioethanol produced from 2nd generation biomass comprising of agricultural residues and forest wastes is a viable alternate fuel. Besides fermentation and biomass gasification to syngas and its further conversion to ethanol, a direct chemocatalytic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into ethanol is being investigated as a viable route which avoids the emission of greenhouse gases. In this work, a detailed configuration of chemocatalytic route is simulated and optimized for minimizing the cost of ethanol production. The economic feasibility of ethanol production through the chemocatalytic pathway is analyzed. The techno-economic analysis is conducted in terms of ethanol selectivity and ethanol production cost. The obtained results show that biomass feedstock and catalyst have major contributions to the production cost. The proposed route is found to be giving a lower ethanol selling price as compared to the well-researched routes of biomass fermentation to ethanol and biomass gasification followed by syngas conversion to ethanol.

Circular bioeconomy is gaining prominence in academic, policy, and industry contexts, linking circular economy and bioeconomy agendas in service of sustainability. However, it is at risk of developing in narrow, unsustainable ways. A sustainable path to circular bioeconomies must embrace diverse expert and stakeholder input, multiple solutions, and noneconomic value., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Microalgae and cyanobacteria represent a diverse renewable resource with significant potential for the industrial production of goods and services with high added value. However, scientific, technical/technological, legislative and market gaps and barriers still limit the growth of these markets in Europe and the number of exploited species. We conducted an in-depth survey of European microalgae researchers, experts and stakeholders to identify these limitations and to discuss strategies, recommendations and guidelines to overcome these barriers. Here, we present the findings of this study which detail the main promising markets for microalgae and cyanobacteria in the coming decades, an updated SWOT analysis of the sector, the current opportunities, limitations, risks and threats for microalgae research and market sectors in Europe, a traffic light analysis for a quick assessment of market opportunities for each microalgae sector and detailed recommendations/guidelines for overcoming the scientific, technical/technological, legislative and market gaps and barriers.

This tutorial review focuses on recent advances in technologies for enzyme immobilisation, enabling their cost-effective use in the bio-based economy and continuous processing in general. The application of enzymes, particularly in aqueous media, is generally on a single use, throw-away basis which is neither cost-effective nor compatible with a circular economy concept. This shortcoming can be overcome by immobilising the enzyme as an insoluble recyclable solid, that is as a heterogeneous catalyst.

Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification that has pivotal roles in protein degradation and diversified cellular processes, and for more than two decades it has been a subject of interest in the biotech or biopharmaceutical industry. Tripartite motif (TRIM) family proteins are known to have proven E3 ubiquitin ligase activities and are involved in a multitude of cellular and physiological events and pathophysiological conditions ranging from cancers to rare genetic disorders. Although in recent years many kinds of E3 ubiquitin ligases have emerged as the preferred choices of big pharma and biotech startups in the context of protein degradation and disease biology, from a surface overview it appears that TRIM E3 ubiquitin ligases are not very well recognized yet in the realm of drug discovery. This article will review some of the blockbuster scientific discoveries and technological innovations from the world of ubiquitination and E3 ubiquitin ligases that have impacted the biopharma community, from biotech colossuses to startups, and will attempt to evaluate the future of TRIM family proteins in the province of E3 ubiquitin ligase-based drug discovery.

Development of affordable and low carbon biobased manufacturing depends critically on strategies that reduce cost and emission profiles. This paper indicates that efforts around the reduction of capital costs by intensification of process equipment need to be carefully weighed against the inherently fast increasing financial and climate costs of driving forces used for the intensification. The fundamental relation between capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operational expenditures (OPEX) of intensified and non-intensified biobased processes and their financial and climatic impacts are emphasized and provisionally explored for a few industrial processes. General learnings flag the importance in particular of OPEX minimisation for sustainable bio-economic development., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Continuous, inspiring and interconnected step-by-step changes in thought and understanding, knowhow, actions and behaviour have often been instrumental in transitions from one particular age to the next in human history. This also applies to the present century and its sustainability challenges at the planetary, regional and local levels. Therefore, it is of great importance and relevance to move forward on the journey which has been started globally to address the not insignificant number of challenges. It is however essential to go beyond descriptive work by continuing with novel, inspiring and interconnected steps to find solutions to overcome these challenges. As this huge task also requires multidimensional communication, understanding and actions across different regions, cultures, disciplines and knowledge areas, the development of a common conceptual framework such as the concept of bioeconomy has been accepted globally as very valuable. The momentum which has been created in more than 50 countries around the world by the growing number of activities, initiatives and strategies in bioeconomy is very encouraging. This offers great opportunities to mobilize even more stakeholders in science and industry, as well as society, to join the bioeconomy journey. Strategic high-level concepts such as preserving the value of the natural capital of planet earth, connecting economy and ecology, sustaining the boundary conditions and habitability of our biosphere are highly important. It is also essential on the bioeconomy journey to connect with highly specific and actionable missions, programs and plans towards sustainable economic growth under the boundary conditions of our planet., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

This article presents the current status of the development of bioeconomy in the Czech Republic. Although the country has no unified strategy on bioeconomy, there are ambitious governmental innovation strategies and focused strategies for each region. Traditionally, the country has had a strong research performance in chemistry and biology, which together with developed agriculture, forestry and food industries, provides a good foundation for the development of locally based circular systems. Moreover, the government supports research on tools and applications of new plant breeding technologies, including genome editing, and there is a strong initiative from the research community calling to update EU regulatory policy in this area., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Bioeconomy has been proposed as a strategy to overcome many global and national challenges, from climate action to income diversification in rural areas. Therefore, the ultimate goal is not to measure the bioeconomy per se, but its sustainability. One way to ensure sustainability of bioeconomy strategies would be by linking its reporting with internationally-agreed targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Although there are case studies, scientific articles and technical reports in the literature of bioeconomy and other related strategies (e.g. green economy, circular economy) and their links to SDGs, the complete picture on this heterogeneous literature is missing. The objective of this work is to lay out the opportunities to couple monitoring and evaluation of bioeconomy and bioeconomy-related concepts to aid the countries to report their status on attaining SDGs. This study is the first to review and harmonize the results through meta-analysis of the available literature and technical reports on linking bioeconomy and SDGs. The results suggest that bioeconomy monitoring and evaluation can provide opportunities in terms of SDG reporting, in all three dimensions of sustainability. Bioeconomy strategies and practices were found to have strong potential in coupled reporting with several SDGs related to economic development, access to basic services, and sustainable consumption, followed by biodiversity conservation, waste re-use, equality, gender equality, inclusiveness and international cooperation., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The bioeconomy is a new and essential paradigm for reducing our dependence on natural resources and responding to the environmental threats that the Earth is currently facing. In this regard, microalgae offer almost unlimited possibilities for developing a modern bioeconomy given their metabolic flexibility and high biomass output rates, even when produced under harsh conditions, such as when treating wastewaters or using flue gases. In this article, the microalgal contribution to important economic activities such as the production of food and feed, cosmetics and health-related compounds is reviewed. Moreover, potential contributions of microalgae to emerging sectors are discussed, as in the production of biomaterials, agriculture-related products, biofuels and provision of services such as wastewater treatment and the clean-up of industrial gases. The different microalgal production technologies have also been analyzed to identify the main bottlenecks affecting microalgal use in different applications. Finally, the major challenges facing microalgal biotechnology in enlarging its contribution to the bioeconomy are evaluated, and future trends discussed., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The transition to a sustainable bioeconomy by a customized approach would speed up its development and make it more targeted. There is still no common international method for determining, measuring and comparing the extent of sustainability. The aim of this research is to develop a methodology for the assessment of bioeconomy-influencing factor interlinkages, and creation of benchmarks through a top-down approach. The main output is the assessment of factor interlinkages that could be further used for composite index creation. A case of triple factor nexus is presented: policy, research and innovations, and technology nexus for EU countries. As a result, the empirical model presents the mathematical description of policy, research and innovation, and technology link benchmark., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Bioeconomy is becoming the main driver transforming European agri-food value chains towards global sustainability in the food supply chain. Intensive horticultural production systems based on medium and low-tech greenhouses are suitable scenarios implementing bioeconomy strategies to achieve sustainability targets. Since the publication of the European Strategy of Bioeconomy in 2012, policy measures intended to boost bioeconomy are responsible for changing what are now considered outdated production systems to more high-tech models capable of responding to climate-change challenges. This article describes the potential for the agri-food supply chain to drive the transition of medium and low-tech intensive greenhouse systems to biobased, circular economy value-chains. Key areas of impact relate to waste valorisation and management, new inputs based on biotechnological innovations, building clusters of innovative delivery partners within the sector, and the increase in public awareness of the impact of the bioeconomy through socio-economic analysis., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The ethical concept of justice, as it relates to the development and deployment of innovative health technologies, commands the fair and equitable distribution of burdens and benefits. In bioethics, specific guidance on practical strategies for achieving what this concept of justice demands are somewhat elusive. Drawing on issues of justice arising or likely to arise in the context of the search for a vaccine or cure for COVID-19, this paper argues for a focus on the concept of "practical justice" in post-pandemic bioethics work. To illustrate the value and promise of this concept, the paper reflects on an approach to achieving practical justice in health biotechnology research that is grounded in a commitment to offer technical assistance to developing and under-resourced nations., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Biosurfactants are surface-active molecules originated from renewable resources, which are produced by microbial fermentation or chemical/enzymatic catalysis. These molecules present important advantages as compared to petrochemical surfactants, given their resistance to extreme conditions, biodegradability, specificity, and environmental compatibility. Besides that, the high production costs hinder its commercialization. In this way, this article aimed to analyze microbial biosurfactants production, focusing on the optimization of metabolic pathways and production processes, to identify key aspects and provide alternatives to allow a cost-effective production at industrial scale. This was achieved by a broad analysis of biosurfactants properties, applications, and biosynthetic pathways (in terms of yield, cofactors, and energy), in addition to an assessment of production-associated costs. As a result of the present extensive data survey and analysis, key production aspects are disclosed. The metabolic pathway yield analysis demonstrated that production of biosurfactants can be significantly improved (highest theoretical yield was 0.47 g biosurfactant /g substrate ) by the use of biomolecular engineering techniques to generate optimized synthetic pathways. With an alternative proposed pathway for surfactin, yield was improved and imbalance in cofactors and ATP was reduced. Analysis of productive costs indicated that to make rhamnolipids commercial production feasible, the main efforts should focus on lowering substrate costs as well as the identification of energy-efficient unit operations to lower electricity cost, since these parameters accounted for 19.36 and 78.22%, respectively, of the production costs. The data generated by this analysis highlight the need for multidisciplinary collaboration to make rhamnolipids economically feasible, including biomolecular engineering and process intensification., (© 2020 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.)

Continuous processing offers a promising approach to revolutionize biotherapeutics manufacturing as reflected in recent years. The current study offers a comparative economic assessment of batch and continuous processing for the production of biotherapeutic products. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF), a protein expressed in E. coli, and an IgG1 monoclonal antibody, were chosen as representatives of microbial and mammalian derived products for this assessment. Economic indicators-cost of goods (COGs), net present value (NPV), and payback time have been estimated for the assessment. For the case of GCSF, conversion from batch to integrated continuous manufacturing induced a $COGs/g reduction of 83% and 73% at clinical and commercial scales, respectively. For the case of mAb therapeutic, a 68% and 35% reduction in $COGs/g on translation from batch to continuous process was projected for clinical and commercial scales, respectively. Upstream mAb titer was also found to have a significant impact on the process economics. With increasing mAb titer, the $COG/g decreases in both operating modes. With titer increasing from 2 to 8 g/L, the $COG/g of batch process was reduced by 53%, and that of the continuous process was reduced by 63%. Cost savings in both the cases were attributed to increased productivity, efficient equipment and facility utilization, smaller facility footprint, and reduction in utilization of consumables like resin media and buffers actualized by the continuous processing platform. The current study quantifies the economic benefits associated with continuous processing and highlights its potential in reducing the manufacturing cost of biotherapeutics., (© 2020 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.)

This article provides an overview of the BIO 2020 program implementation in the Russian Federation. It covers the driving factors of bioeconomic development in Russia and describes new measures of state regulation that may have a determining impact on the industry's development in the short and medium terms. Analysis of specific sectors of the bioeconomy and their main drivers was carried out. Examples of various biotechnology field projects are given., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The bioeconomy is generally conceived as an economy based on land- and marine-based natural resources including eco-system services and biowaste. The dominant research has focused on the resource approach, i.e. the supply of different biomass products and services. Less emphasis has been put on the products and services stemming from the bioresources and the value differences these may have for individual entrepreneurs, for circular economy clusters or for municipalities and regions. This article is a first attempt for a more comprehensive assessment of regional economic and social impacts of the new bioeconomy in the Nordic countries. Combining employment statistics and empirical cases, we show how the new bioeconomy makes important contributions to more environmentally and socially sustainable economic growth, particularly in the rural areas of the Nordics. The data and cases show the importance of the regional and local levels in creating the new institutional structures for cooperation between firms and public authorities that pave the way for successful synergistic clusters. Such clusters allow for a reduction in waste streams and the replacement of fossil fuels and other inputs, while also creating significant local added value, local jobs and reducing climate emissions., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Biotechnology methods and applications have the potential to accelerate a transition to a more circular economy. This article identifies five distinct points within a typical product lifecycle as areas where biotechnology can be impactful, starting with so-called 'beginning-of-life', with the ability to make many widely-used chemicals and materials using renewable feedstocks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This extends into a discussion of novel materials; a holistic approach to designing for improved lifecycle outcomes; compostability; and the potential for reuse and up-cycling at end-of-life, to enable a circular flow of materials. We propose specific steps that can be taken by chemical and materials manufacturers, designers and brands., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

At the onset of the 4th Industrial Revolution, the role of synthetic biology (SynBio) as a fuel for the bioeconomy requires clarification of the terms typically adopted by this growing scientific-technical field. The concept of the chassis as a defined, reusable biological frame where non-native components can be plugged in and out to create new functionalities lies at the boundary between frontline bioengineering and more traditional recombinant DNA technology. As synthetic biology leaves academic laboratories and starts penetrating industrial and environmental realms regulatory agencies demand clear definitions and descriptions of SynBio constituents, processes and products. In this article, the state of the ongoing discussion on what is a chassis is reviewed, a non-equivocal nomenclature for the jargon used is proposed and objective criteria are recommended for distinguishing SynBio agents from traditional GMOs. The use of genomic barcodes as unique identifiers is strongly advocated. Finally the soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida is shown as an example of the roadmap that one environmental isolate may go through to become a bona fide SynBio chassis., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Bioeconomy is not an autonomous sector of the economy, but rather a complex mechanism involving agriculture, industry, biotechnology, service sectors and consumers. To measure the size of the bioeconomy in European Union (EU) countries, it is necessary to create appropriate indicators that allow it to be monitored with reference to its current state, growth rate and sector description. In many countries, including Poland, there is no complete information or data collection system to monitor bioeconomy development directly, e.g. in the Polish Central Statistical Office. In response to these needs, several groups of indicators related to the circular economy, sustainable development and Europe 2020 were created by the European Commission (EC) in the Eurostat database. These indicators can help monitoring of bioeconomy development in EU countries. The present study discusses factors for bioeconomy development through an analysis of their social, economic and environmental aspects, as well as showing the value of the selected indicators in the EU and Poland. In addition, a separate section is dedicated to public perception of bioeconomy and to legislation regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs). To date, many research studies have been reported on the public acceptance of bioeconomy issues in the EU, including renewable resources, biofuels, GMOs, bio-based products, food security and climate change. The awareness and perception of society on the bioeconomy, bio-based products and processes, and the sustainable use of resources can contribute to environmental sustainability, but intensified efforts are required to increase public acceptance., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

There has been significant national interest and movement towards bioeconomic policy over the past decade. Through an examination of the current bioeconomic pathways in New Zealand, this paper outlines key barriers that transition pathways will need to overcome and factors needing development within the country's bioeconomic environment. New Zealand's strength in primary production, coupled with a market-led economy and recent green growth with low carbon policies, provide an excellent platform for bioeconomic development. However, the strength in established biological industries and lack of clearly defined vision or cohesive support for bioeconomic development provide sufficient inertia to realising the full potential. For a bioeconomy in New Zealand to flourish, a primary sector model that is cohesive and more integrated is needed to develop new niche industries and attract finance, while providing an overarching governance system to the primary industries., (Crown Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In the area of human-made innovations to improve the quality of life, biocatalysis has already had a great impact and contributed enormously to a growing number of catalytic transformations aimed at the detection and analysis of compounds, the bioconversion of starting materials and the preparation of target compounds at any scale, from laboratory small scale to industrial large scale. The key enabling tools which have been developed in biocatalysis over the last decades also provide great opportunities for further development and numerous applications in various sectors of the global bioeconomy. Systems biocatalysis is a modular, bottom-up approach to designing the architecture of enzyme-catalyzed reaction steps in a synthetic route from starting materials to target molecules. The integration of biocatalysis and sustainable chemistry in vitro aims at ideal conversions with high molecular economy and their intensification. Retrosynthetic analysis in the chemical and biological domain has been a valuable tool for target-oriented synthesis while, on the other hand, diversity-oriented synthesis builds on forward-looking analysis. Bioinformatic tools for rapid identification of the required enzyme functions, efficient enzyme production systems, as well as generalized bioprocess design tools, are important for rapid prototyping of the biocatalytic reactions. The tools for enzyme engineering and the reaction engineering of each enzyme-catalyzed one-step reaction are also valuable for coupling reactions. The tools to overcome interaction issues with other components or enzymes are of great interest in designing multi-step reactions as well as in biocatalytic total synthesis., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)