Biotechnology and the Environment

What are the events that triggered the interest in environmental biotechnology?
Rachel Carlsons Silent Spring (DDT)
Love Canal
Burning of a River
Exxon Valdez in 1989
Widespread Use of Pesticides Rachel become alarmed by government abuse of new chemical pesticides
such as DDT, in particular the "predator" and "pest" control programs, which were broadcasting poisons
with little regard for the welfare of other creatures.
Chemical companies made other pesticides: dieldrin, parathion, heptachlor, malathion and other
compounds many times stronger than DDT
The government planned to distribute these poisons through the Department of Agriculture for public
use and commercial manufacture.
------ Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had
settled on the community: mysterious maladies had swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep
sickened and died. Everywhere is a shadow of death. The farmers spoke much of illness among their
families. In the town the doctors had become more and more puzzled by new kinds of sickness
appearing among their patients. There had been several sudden and unexplained death, not only among
adults but also among children, who would be stricken suddenly while at play and die within a few
hours.
Hooker chemical company and Plastics Corporation dumped 22,000 tons of toxic chemicals into
the abandoned project, The Love Canal.
Chemicals leached into sewers.
Creeks and bodies of water were turning different colours like orange, black, and sickly coloured
green. They like were cesspools.
Plant life was turning black and dying all over the place.
Almost 300 animals died of diseases.
Babies were born with many birth defects including deafness, autism, blindness, three ears, and
an extra row of teeth.

Burning of The River
The Cuyahoga River, in Cleveland, Ohio, was important because it was one of the quickest ways
to transport goods
Ohio Canal was built, bypassing the river
Many factories began to appear
To the mid-1800s and people have switched from water power to steam power.
Because of the factories and the natural waste from coal, the river began to get Oil polluted.
The Cuyahoga was eventually flowing dump.
The Fires
The first documented time the River caught fire was in 1936, when a spark from a blowtorch
ignited it.
This would not be the last fire for the river.
causing nearly $1.5 million in damages, mostly to rail lines held above the water.
Effects of the 1952 fire Even with statewide coverage of the event, there was not much outrage
over the 1952 fire. The reasons for this are:
Environmentalism was taking a back seat to consumerism
Environmentalism was taking a back seat to global affairs
1969 It was not until June of 1969 that the River would catch on fire again.
However, this time the world would eventually take notice.
To the left is the only picture taken of that fire.
The Clean Water Act:
Regulates the amounts and types of discharges into water.
Made it illegal to dump toxins into water.
Funded the construction of sewage treatment plants.
Passed in 1972 with major changes in 1981 and 1987
Federal and State Environmental Protection Agencies:
Develop and enforce environmental laws
Fund state and local environmental protection funds
Perform environmental research
Created in 1970
http://www.epa.gov
Environmental Disasters: Case Studies in Bioremediation
The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
In the end, the indigenous microbes did the best job
Oil Fields of Kuwait
Poses a problem due to the environmental conditions
What do they all have in common?
The advent of the Industrial Revolution
increase in products and waste
people moved to the city
increase in human population
Regulations were passed:
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976)
Must identify hazardous waste and establish standards for managing it properly
Requires companies that store, treat or dispose to have permits stating how the wastes are to be
managed
Record of its travels: Chain of Custody
EPA initiates the Superfund Program (1980)
Counteract careless and negligent practices
Environmental Genome Project
Study and understand the impacts of environmental chemicals on human diseases
Waste
Solid: landfills, combustion-including waste-to energy plants, recovery
slurries, composting
Liquid: septic: sewage treatment, deep-well injection
Gas: fossil fuels, chlorofluorocarbons
Hazardous anything that can explode, catch fire, release toxic fumes, and particles or
cause corrosion
Garbage Test
Banana Peel 0.5 Years
Wood Scrap/Sawdust 4 Years
Wax Paper 5 Years
Styrofoam Cup 20 Years
Tin Can 100 Years
Aluminum Soda Can 500 Years
Plastic Carton 500 Years
Glass Bottles >500 Years

There is no waste in Nature:
From rocks and soil to plants and animals to air and water and back again:
Recycled largely by Microbes
Biogeochemical Cycles are a major part of the recycling process
Carbon Cycle: The primary biogeochemical cycle organic cmpds CO
2
and back
Nitrogen Cycle: proteins amino acids NH
3
NO
2
-
NO
3
-
NO
2
-
N
2
ON
2
NH
3
etc
_

Sulfur Cycle: Just like the nitrogen cycle, numerous oxidation states. Modeled in the
Winogradsky column
Phosphorous Cycle: Doesnt cycle between numerous oxidation states only soluble and
insoluble form
Scientists learn from nature in the 1980s
The concept of Gaia the total world is a living organism and what nature makes nature
can degrade (bioinfalibility); only man makes xenobiotic compounds
Clean up pollution-short and long term solutions (cost, toxicity, time frame)
Use compounds that are biodegradable
Produce Energy and Materials in less destructive ways
Monitor Environmental Health
Increase Recovery of Minerals and Oil
Gaia Theory: Organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a self-
regulating, complex system that contributes to maintaining the conditions for life on the planet
Bioremediation finds its place
Companies begin to specialize in cleaning up toxic waste spills by using a mixture of
bacteria and fungi because cleaning these spills usually requires the combined efforts of
several strains.
Biotechnologists begin engineering super bugs to clean up wastes.
However, there are many microorganisms in nature that will degrade waste products.