Diverting organic waste from landfills via insect biomanufacturing using engineered black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens).

A major roadblock towards the realisation of a circular economy are the lack of high-value products that can be generated from waste. Black soldier flies (BSF; Hermetia illucens) are gaining traction for their ability to rapidly consume large quantities of organic wastes. However, these are primarily used to produce a small variety of products, such as animal feed ingredients and fertiliser. Using synthetic biology, BSF could be developed into a novel sustainable biomanufacturing platform to valorise a broader variety of organic waste feedstocks into enhanced animal feeds, a large variety of high-value biomolecules including industrial enzymes and lipids, and improved fertiliser. This perspective describes how insects, such as Hermetia illucens, which are already used to process organic wastes at industrial scales, could be developed as a synthetic biology platform for sustainable biomanufacturing and bioremediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]