The latest volume in the Advanced Biotechnology series provides an overview of the main product classes and platform chemicals produced by biotechnological processes today, with applications in the food, healthcare and fine chemical industries. Alongside the production of drugs and flavors as well as amino acids, bio-based monomers and polymers and biofuels, basic insights are also given as to the biotechnological processes yielding such products and how large-scale production may be enabled and improved. Of interest to biotechnologists, bio and chemical engineers, as well as those working in the biotechnological, chemical, and food industries.

Concerted efforts to study starvation and survival of nondifferentiating vegeta tive heterotrophic bacteria have been made with various degrees of intensity, in different bacteria and contexts, over more than the last 30 years. As with bacterial growth in natural ecosystem conditions, these research efforts have been intermittent, with rather long periods of limited or no production in between. While several important and well-received reviews and proceedings on the topic of this monograph have been published during the last three to four decades, the last few years have seen a marked increase in reviews on starvation survival in non-spore-forming bacteria. This increase reflects a realization that the biology of bacteria in natural conditions is generally not that of logarithmic growth and that we have very limited information on the physiology of the energy-and nutrient-limited phases of the life cyde of the bacterial cello The growing interest in nongrowing bacteria also sterns from the more recent advances on the molecular basis of the starvation-induced nongrowing bacterial cello The identification of starvation-specific gene and protein re sponders in Escherichia coli as weIl as other bacterial species has provided molecular handles for our attempts to decipher the "differentiation-like" responses and programs that nondifferentiating bacteria exhibit on nutrient limited growth arrest. Severallaboratories have contributed greatly to the progress made in life after-log research.

Scientific advances over the past several decades have accelerated the ability to engineer existing organisms and to potentially create novel ones not found in nature. Synthetic biology, which collectively refers to concepts, approaches, and tools that enable the modification or creation of biological organisms, is being pursued overwhelmingly for beneficial purposes ranging from reducing the burden of disease to improving agricultural yields to remediating pollution. Although the contributions synthetic biology can make in these and other areas hold great promise, it is also possible to imagine malicious uses that could threaten U.S. citizens and military personnel. Making informed decisions about how to address such concerns requires a realistic assessment of the capabilities that could be misused. Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology explores and envisions potential misuses of synthetic biology. This report develops a framework to guide an assessment of the security concerns related to advances in synthetic biology, assesses the levels of concern warranted for such advances, and identifies options that could help mitigate those concerns.

The tremendous progress in biology over the last half century - from Watson and Crick's elucidation of the structure of DNA to today's astonishing, rapid progress in the field of synthetic biology - has positioned us for significant innovation in chemical production. New bio-based chemicals, improved public health through improved drugs and diagnostics, and biofuels that reduce our dependency on oil are all results of research and innovation in the biological sciences. In the past decade, we have witnessed major advances made possible by biotechnology in areas such as rapid, low-cost DNA sequencing, metabolic engineering, and high-throughput screening. The manufacturing of chemicals using biological synthesis and engineering could expand even faster. A proactive strategy - implemented through the development of a technical roadmap similar to those that enabled sustained growth in the semiconductor industry and our explorations of space - is needed if we are to realize the widespread benefits of accelerating the industrialization of biology. Industrialization of Biology presents such a roadmap to achieve key technical milestones for chemical manufacturing through biological routes. This report examines the technical, economic, and societal factors that limit the adoption of bioprocessing in the chemical industry today and which, if surmounted, would markedly accelerate the advanced manufacturing of chemicals via industrial biotechnology. Working at the interface of synthetic chemistry, metabolic engineering, molecular biology, and synthetic biology, Industrialization of Biology identifies key technical goals for next-generation chemical manufacturing, then identifies the gaps in knowledge, tools, techniques, and systems required to meet those goals, and targets and timelines for achieving them. This report also considers the skills necessary to accomplish the roadmap goals, and what training opportunities are required to produce the cadre of skilled scientists and engineers needed.

This volume scopes several aspects of non-conventional yeast research prepared by the leading specialists in the field. An introduction on taxonomy and systematics enhances the reader’s knowledge on yeasts beyond established ones such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biotechnological approaches that involve fungal utilization of unusual substrates, production of biofuels and useful chemicals as citric acid, glutathione or erythritol are discussed. Further, strategies for metabolic engineering based on knowledge on regulation of gene expression as well as sensing and signaling pathways are presented. The book targets researchers and advanced students working in Microbiology, Microbial Biotechnology and Biochemistry.

This volume highlights recent breakthroughs in the interdisciplinary areas of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering and bioprocess engineering for the production of green chemicals. It also presents practical experimental and computational tools for the design, construction and manipulation of cyanobacteria cell factories. The respective contributions cover new technologies in the field, such as novel genetic transformation techniques and bioinformatics analysis methods and address various aspects of cyanobacterial synthetic biology, offering a valuable resource for students and researchers in the fields of industry microbiology and biomedical engineering.

Systems Metabolic Engineering is changing the way microbial cell factories are designed and optimized for industrial production. Integrating systems biology and biotechnology with new concepts from synthetic biology enables the global analysis and engineering of microorganisms and bioprocesses at super efficiency and versatility otherwise not accessible. Without doubt, systems metabolic engineering is a major driver towards bio-based production of chemicals, materials and fuels from renewables and thus one of the core technologies of global green growth. In this book, Christoph Wittmann and Sang-Yup Lee have assembled the world leaders on systems metabolic engineering and cover the full story – from genomes and networks via discovery and design to industrial implementation practises. This book is a comprehensive resource for students and researchers from academia and industry interested in systems metabolic engineering. It provides us with the fundaments to targeted engineering of microbial cells for sustainable bio-production and stimulates those who are interested to enter this exiting research field.

The genomic revolution has opened up systematic investigations and engineering designs for various life forms. Systems biology and synthetic biology are emerging as two complementary approaches, which embody the breakthrough in biology and invite application of engineering principles. Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology emphasizes the similarity between biology and engineering at the system level, which is important for applying systems and engineering theories to biology problems. This book demonstrates to students, researchers, and industry that systems biology relies on synthetic biology technologies to study biological systems, while synthetic biology depends on knowledge obtained from systems biology approaches.

This book is a treatise on microbial ecology that covers traditional and cutting-edge issues in the ecology of microbes in the biosphere. It emphasizes on study tools, microbial taxonomy and the fundamentals of microbial activities and interactions within their communities and environment as well as on the related food web dynamics and biogeochemical cycling. The work exceeds the traditional domain of microbial ecology by revisiting the evolution of cellular prokaryotes and eukaryotes and stressing the general principles of ecology. The overview of the topics, authored by more than 80 specialists, is one of the broadest in the field of environmental microbiology. The overview of the topics, authored by more than 80 specialists, is one of the broadest in the field of environmental microbiology.