Sustainability and Biotechnology

Granted, biofuels and biobased bulk chemicals are low hanging fruits (technically speaking), but the economic and ecological impact of biotechnology is estimated to be more effective with higher-value and more complex molecules. The "buzzword" biotechnology has led to different priorities, often without considering long-term socio-economic costs. Even so, biotechnology holds some very promising solutions to some of our problems with benign synthesis, smart products, and waste recycling. The commercial potential of biotechnology is huge, a colossal 1000 billion U.S. dollars, or about an order of magnitude more than today! In order not to disappoint investors and tax payers, however, we need to develop our tools further, especially for complex molecules for various applications.