11
The Way Ahead
Implicit in the very essence of biotechnology is the idea of the use of biological
systems for commercial benefit and consequently, as has been a recurrent theme
throughout much of this book, this inescapably means that it is subject to business
pressures. Economic, legislative and political forces will shape the future of
environmental biotechnology every bit as much as they have its past. Such is the
inherent nature of the subject. At the same time, the use of biological solutions
in environmental applications depends on the current state of the art and this is
ever changing as new developments are made. One of the areas where major
advancement may occur is in the field of biosensors.
Biosensors
Some are currently available which have been very successful in environmen-
tal monitoring of pollution. A genetically modified yeast has been developed
which detects oestrogen, 17ß-oestradiol and other molecules many of which are
also endocrine disrupters. Although this sensor was designed for use in human
therapeutics, there is the potential for use in pollutant detection, especially in
the light of concern over these chemicals in the watercourses, although consid-
erable development is required (Tucker and Fields 2001). However, the use of
biosensors for ‘one-off’ analyses such as in testing materials about to be tipped
into landfill sites, must await refinement to a much higher level of reliability.
The possibility of producing them with enormous sensitivity and selectivity is
becoming a reality with the development of ‘microchip’ type sensors combining
biological activity with nanowire electronics (Cuiet al. 2001a). This technol-
ogy has reached a stage of being able to detect a change in an electric current
attributable to the binding of a single molecule (Cuiet al. 2001b). Although these
studies raise exciting prospects for biosensors, the ‘ever-present’ question of cost
remains for environmental applications.
Manufacturing
In the manufacturing sphere, it seems certain that there will be increasing pres-
sures to continue the reductions in pollution and waste production. These are