The application of Biotechnology to solve the environmental problems in the environment and in the ecosystems is called Environmental Biotechnology. It is applied and it is used to study the natural environment. According to the international Society for environmental Biotechnology the environmental Biotechnology is defined as an environment that helps to develop, efficiently use and regulate the biological systems and prevent the environment from pollution or from contamination of land, air and water have work efficiently to sustain an environment â€" friendly Society.
There are five major different types of Applications of Environmental Biotechnology. They are as follows:
a) Biomarker:
This type of Application of environmental Biotechnology gives response to a chemical that helps to measure the level of damage caused or the exposure of the toxic or the pollution effect caused. In other word, Biomarker can also be called as the Biological markers the major use of this applications helps to relate the connection between the oils and its sources.
b) Bioenergy:
The collective purport of Biogas, biomass, fuels, and hydrogen are called the Bioenergy. The use of this application of Environment Biotechnology is in the industrial, domestic and space sectors. As per the recent need it is concluded that the need of clean energy out of these fuels and alternative ways of finding clean energy is the need of the hour. One of the pioneer examples of green energy are the wastes collected from the organic and biomass wastes; these wastes help use to over the pollution issues caused in the environment. The Biomass energy supply has become a prominent importance in every country.
c) Bioremediation:
The process of cleaning up the hazardous substances into non-toxic compounds is called the Bioremediation process. This process is majorly used for any kind of technology clean up that uses the natural microorganisms.
d) Biotransformation:
The changes that take place in the biology of the environment which are changes of the complex compound to simple non-toxic to toxic or the other way round is called the biotransformation process. It is used in the Manufacturing sector where toxic substances are converted to Bi-products.
Benefits:
The major benefits of environmental biotechnology are it helps to keep our environment safe and clean for the use of the future generations. It helps the organisms and the engineers to find useful ways of getting adapted to the changes in the environment and keep the environment clean and green. The benefit of environmental biotechnology helps us to avoid the use of hazardous pollutants and wastes that affect the natural resources and the environment. The development of the society should be done in such a way that it helps to protect our environment and also helps us to development it.
The environmental biotechnology has a role to play in the removal of the pollutants. It is becoming an advantage for the scientists and the environmentalists to find ways to convert the waste to re-useable products. The applications of environmental biotechnology are becoming a benefiting factor for the environment; the applications includes â€" genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, sequencing and imaging processes are providing large amounts of information and new ways to improvise the environment and protect the environment.
The branch of Biotechnology is called Bioremediation and it deals with the problems related to the environment. The use of different types of contaminants and fungi are used to the clean the environment and it plays a very vital role to keep the pollutants away from the environment. The bacteria are considered as one of the vital microbes since they break the dead organisms or the materials into useful organic matter and nutrients. As per the research not all the contaminants can be affecting the environment can be destroyed using the process of bioremediation eg. Lead and cadmium are not the contaminants that can be decomposed by the microorganisms.
The process of Bioremediation takes place in 2 conditions â€" aerobic and anaerobic conditions. When the microbes need oxygen to perform its process is in the case of aerobic condition; if they can ample amount of oxygen they’ll be able to give maximum amount of water and carbon through the conversion of contaminants and toxins. In case of anaerobic conditions the microbes perform their work without the presence of oxygen the chemical compounds present in the soil helps the anaerobic to perform its duties efficiently.
a) Mycoremediation:
This is a type of Bioremediation; fungi are used for the process of decontamination. The use of fungal mycelia in bioremediation is called Mycoremediation. The role of the fungus in the ecosystem is to perform the work of braking down the organic substances into much smaller and simpler materials. The mycelium helps in braking down the substances and they secrete extracellur enzymes and acids that brakes lignin and cellulose; these are building blocks of plant fiber. The key function of Mycoremediation is to target the right fungal species for a specific pollutant.
b) Phytoremediation:
The direct use of the green plants and their microorganisms used to balance or decrease the contaminated soils, sludges, sediments, surface water or ground water is called Phytoremediation. As per the Ancient Greek term phyto means plant and remedian means restoring balance. This type of bioremediation explains a way of treating the environmental problems with the help of plants. The element of Phytoremediation consists of contaminated soil, water, and air which are polluted and the plants are able to contain and eliminate the metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil.
C) Microbial Remediation:
The use of microorganisms to degrade organic contaminants and to bind the use of metals in less bioavaliable form is called Microbial Remediation. â€" Aerobic and Anaerobic conditions. When the microbes need oxygen to perform its process is in the case of aerobic condition; if they can ample amount of oxygen they’ll be able to give maximum amount of water and carbon through the conversion of contaminants and toxins. In case of anaerobic conditions the microbes perform their work without the presence of oxygen the chemical compounds present in the soil helps the anaerobic to perform its duties efficiently.
