Microorganisms, the new factories?

Our mode of development is largely the heir of the industrial revolution of the last century and is based on the postulate of an abundance of resources, expensive in raw materials, costly in energy and insufficiently selective.

Even if we could estimate that the gradual transition to a digitalized society would make it possible to gradually optimize some of our industrial processes. The increase in human needs due to population growth, climate change and the scarcity of resources available to us are forcing us to review the basis of our economic development.

Microorganisms represent one of the most important biomasses on earth and their wide use as a substitute or as support coupled with chemistry could open new horizons. Whether classic (fermentation dating from the Neolithic, enzymatic engineering) or new generation (genetic engineering, nanotechnology, genomics, proteins), biotechnologies are increasingly integrated into processes for transforming matter or synthesizing new products.

These fantastic toolboxes enable considerable progress in many areas.

👖 👕 🧥 Textile

By isolating the DNA sequence responsible for color in nature and introducing it into a microorganism for its development, the dye becomes » thanks to fermentation.

The dyeing process could take place afterwards thanks to the nutrients present in the water.

🧃 Plastic recycling

Spotted in the soil, the sea, or the intestines of some animals, several species of microorganisms have acquired the capacity to make plastic a source of energy, thanks to enzymes altering these long hydrocarbon chains.

However, this does not mean that simply putting them in contact with the right plastic under the right conditions will make it disappear. It would take them a few weeks or even months to degrade limited quantities. But these micro-organisms “ mangeurs ” of plastics could still provide valuable help. Their study provides new ammunition for synthetic biology and could make it possible to optimize metabolic pathways.

🧬 🔬 🧪 Health/Medical

Microorganisms with exceptional adaptation capacities still intrigue microbiologists, they now also arouse the curiosity of chemists who seek to design new drugs. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that antibiotic resistance will be responsible for 10 million deaths per year by 2050. Among the hundreds of billions of microorganisms that live in our digestive tract, some produce substances with antibiotic properties and offers a promising alternative to current antibiotics whose effectiveness continues to decline.

🏗️ 🏢 🚧 Construction/Building

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Colorado used microorganisms to transform sand and gelatin into a building material « vivant_11100000-0000-0000- 0000-000000000111_”. Through photosynthesis, they capture sunlight, absorb nutrients and carbon dioxide to produce calcium carbonate, the main constituent of the shell of marine animals and the basic ingredient of cement.

Unlike conventional concrete, the production of which requires a lot of energy and releases large quantities of greenhouse gases, this material is particularly ecological.

Humidity conditions are necessary and the mechanical resistance remains lower than that of conventional concrete, but this research opens the way to the construction of a new type of infrastructure.

🌾 🚜 🐝 Food

Monitoring micro-organisms in food production environments would help identify incidents at an early stage. This would, for example, be the case for contamination which could compromise the quality and safety of the products.

Certain by-products from the food industry contain ingredients with interesting nutritional properties, beneficial to health, which can be valued and have a positive influence on our intestinal microbiota and our health.

The algae valorization center (CEVA) in Pleubian, in Brittany, has produced a non-sweetening saccharide which is an additive for jams produced for diabetics.

🛢️ ⛽ 🚘 Transportation

The circular use of carbon which would not result in a net addition of CO2 to our environment is being developed in the steel industry. Steel manufacturing involves the emission of gases rich in carbon monoxide (CO), C02 and hydrogen (H2). This gas mixture is used as a feedstock to produce sustainable ethanol through fermentation and would enable the manufacture of environmentally friendly fuel.

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