SAVING THE CLIMATE THROUGH BIOTECHNOLOGY

Under the theme ‘Industry Convergence: Accelerating Sustainable Development’, Abu Dhabi
Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2019 gathered to explore how industries are responding to the digital
transformation underway in the global economy, which in turn is giving rise to new opportunities to
address global sustainability challenges. With this in mind, Masdar has produced the Future of
Sustainability whitepaper report – in partnership with The National – based on information provided by
students, individuals, companies and governmental organisations actively driving sustainability-related
innovation across the planet.

SAVING THE CLIMATE THROUGH BIOTECHNOLOGY
Under the theme ‘Industry Convergence: Accelerating Sustainable Development’, Abu Dhabi
Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2019 gathered to explore how industries are responding to the digital
transformation underway in the global economy, which in turn is giving rise to new opportunities to
address global sustainability challenges. With this in mind, Masdar has produced the Future of
Sustainability whitepaper report – in partnership with The National – based on information provided by
students, individuals, companies and governmental organisations actively driving sustainability-related
innovation across the planet.

SOLVING THE PLASTIC PROBLEM
A Biotech-Now article suggests that biotechnology might be key to solving the world’s plastic problem,
an issue that contributes significantly to the world’s climate challenges. The article claims that there are
“12.7 million tons of plastic floating in our oceans alone”, not counting the tons on our streets and in
landfills. It adds that “most of the 300 million tons of plastic manufactured each year are harmful to the
environment because they aren’t biodegradable and are made from chemicals derived from oil, natural
gas and coal – otherwise known as petroleumbased plastics – which release Greenhouse Gases (GHG)
into the environment”. Thanks to biotechnology, however, new bio-based plastics derived from
renewable biomass sources are being developed as viable replacements. These bio-based plastics are
recyclable and often biodegradable, breaking down naturally in the environment and leading to fewer
greenhouse gas emissions. Coca-Cola and Ford are already investing in bio-based plastics, using the
plastic alternatives for items such as drink bottles and foam for car seats.

DRIVING DECARBONISATION
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), transportation fuel is the biggest
contributor to GHG, making up over a quarter of total emissions in the US alone. In total, the world uses
50 million barrels per day of carbon-emitting fossil fuels to power cars, planes and ships. Unlike
transportation fuels that come from fossil fuels, biofuels are manufactured from living matter – usually
corn – and don’t emit as much carbon. By boosting our use of biofuels, for example ethanol, we can
make massive progress in lowering the transportation sector’s impact on the environment. Biofuels can
also be produced from sources that would otherwise emit GHG, for example, factory or animal waste.
Innovations like this allow biorefineries to transform waste into cleaner fuel.

EFFICIENT AGRICULTURE THAT FEEDS THE WORLD
Biotechnology innovations can also help us grow food on a larger scale and in a more environmentally-
friendly manner. Biotechnology – including gene editing tools like CRISPR – have enormous potential
regarding the creation of drought-tolerant or disease-resistant crops. Since biotech crops were
introduced in 1996, pesticide use has dropped by over 8%. In one year, the use of biotech crops and no-
till farming systems saw CO2 emissions falling by 27.1 billion kg. That’s equal to removing 16.7 million
cars off the road. To stop the planet from overheating, however, innovations are needed – especially in
areas where most food is grown. Ag microbial technology is a new biotech innovation that might help.
There are billions of microbes – tiny organisms like bacteria and fungi – in a plant’s soil. These exist to
give the plants the nutrients they need to grow. Through biotechnology, microbes can be engineered to
enhance a plant’s growth to the desired effect.

MICROBES HELPED CLEAN UP BP’S OIL SPILL
An article in the Scientific American reveals how microorganisms were “a big reason why BP’s 2010 oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico was not far worse”. According to Chris Reddy of the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, “The microbes did a spectacular job of eating a lot of the natural gas.” The
article states that the small hydrocarbon molecules in natural gas were the easiest for the
microorganisms to eat, with the microbes getting help from the nature of the oil spill: so-called
Louisiana light, sweet crude mixed with natural gas, as opposed to bitumen or other heavy, gunky oils.
“More than 150 different molecules make up the toxic stew of hydrocarbons that spewed from BP’s
Macondo well on the Gulf of Mexico seafloor,” the piece reported. “The microbes chewed through the
smaller, dispersed hydrocarbons (and the dispersants themselves) relatively quickly, helped by the fact
that these molecules can dissolve in water. Ocean currents, in addition to keeping the spilt oil offshore,
spurred microbial activity amidst the oil spill. That continuous mixing of the water allowed a bacterial
bloom to turn millions of barrels of oil into an estimated 100 sextillion microbial cells of
ethaneconsuming Colwellia, aromatic-eating Cycloclasticus, alkane-eating Oceanospirillales, oil-eating
Alcanovorax, methane-loving Methylococcaceae and other species, including at least one previously
unknown to science. But even the ravenous microbes could not clean it all—and much of what they
consumed (natural gas components like methane, ethane, butane, propane and pentane) does not
legally count as part of the oil spill. Plus, plenty of tarlike hydrocarbons—which are far too big for
microbes to chew up—spilt, too.” Scientists are still trying to understand the impact of this oil spill, and
the role that nature itself plays on helping to clean it up today.

THREE BIOTECH PRODUCTS WE COULD BE USING SOON
1. Cow-free milk Singularity Hub reports that “cellular agriculture uses biotechnology to develop
proteins and biomolecules that are usually derived from animals. These distributed cellular
factories let us brew food and beverages more locally and sustainably, creating synthetic dairy
and other food items. It is believed that this technique could alleviate the environmental impact
of livestock farming and improve food security.” The piece reveals that food company Perfect
Day’s cow-free milk contains the same proteins that are produced by an actual cow, just without
any cows involved whatsoever. The brand’s cow-free milk does not have any lactose either, and
boasts a shelf life of six months.

2. No-animal meat Clean meat startup Memphis Meats recently made waves bringing lab-grown
beef and chicken to the masses, according to a piece in Singularity Hub. The article says that the
company has raised $17 million from investors, including Bill Gates and Richard Branson, to transform
the way we eat meat. With some aspects of livestock farming being problematic – contributing to
around 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions (although some scientists claim the figure is much
higher), fostering deforestation and habitat loss, encouraging routine antibiotic use, and causing large-
scale animal suffering – inexpensive, scalable, and locally brewed meat could be a transformative
solution, with only small animal biopsies required to extract the cells needed to grow edible meat.
Singularity Hub adds that, in the future, programmable food – constructed molecule by molecule in
cellular factories – could metamorphose what we eat, and how we eat it. Egg-free egg whites, shrimp-
free shrimp, and sushi-free sushi are being developed too.

3. Open-source biology
A startup, Cell-Free Tech, “is breaking a billion-year-old processor out of the cell to let anyone,
anywhere, build biomolecules with easy-to-use kits – only without the actual cells”. That’s according to
Singularity Hub. “This renders biology more user-friendly as it eliminates the need for microbial
culturing, training, and equipment. Making cell-free systems available to all could kick off a new era of
‘decellularised’ do-it-yourself biology.” Interested open-source biologists get access to plasmids carrying
the genetic software instructions, similar to an app. They then programme the ribosome, essentially a
3D-protein printer, to produce different proteins. Singularity Hub says they “could be custom-
fluorescent colours, vanilla smells, glow-in-the-dark ink” or something else. One day they could even be
medicines. Along with an open-source tool, the cell-free kit allows people to make biopixels so they can
follow the production of their mini biofactories via an app.