More than a century ago, a beneficial property of microbes to convert simple sugars into alcohols (such as butanol, ethanol, and acetone) was discovered. Recently, based on these findings, scientists developed novel strategies to produce fuels, using microbes and renewable non-organic biomass. However, notwithstanding the rapid advancement of technologies in the industry, metabolic modeling through microbial processes remains scarce.
The most notable role of microbes in the method lies in the newly developed construction of genome-scale, genetic, and genomic models used for their metabolic engineering, with several clear examples mentioned. For instance, to produce succinic acid, scientists successfully perform the metabolic engineering of Mannheimia succiniproducens, whereas E. coli is used to biosynthesize a variety of chemicals. Despite the current achievements in microbial biotechnology, eradicating technical difficulties associated with the auspicious commercialization of the microbial cell factories is essential for executing the project on the way to an energy sustainable society.
Microbiology and Its Pharmaceutical Impact
Microbes have a vital role in the pharmaceutical industry, being used in the production of antibiotics, probiotics, vaccines, and quality tests to prevent microbial contamination of the medicine developed. Despite a widely used bio and chemical synthesis for the development of antibacterial drugs today, the production of some types of antibiotics (such as aminoglycosides) still requires living organisms. Specific microbes, bifidobacteria, and LAB, in particular, are also utilized for the composition of probiotics, beneficial for digestive health. The creation of vaccines requires the usage of microorganisms, as well.
However, unlike antibiotics or probiotics, vaccines need weakened or dead forms of the microbes. In addition to drug production, microorganisms play an essential role in the development of control tests in the pharmaceutical industry. Specific examples on the matter include sterility testing, used for the examination of antibiotics and ophthalmic preparations, water testing, primarily designed for the detection of E. coli, and LAL testing for the eduction of endotoxins.
References
Ali, M. Z. (2013). ROLE OF MICROOGRANISM IN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY. ResearchGate. Web.
Prospects of microbial cell factories developed through systems metabolic engineering. (2016). PubMed Central (PMC). Web.
Rajshree. (2020). How Microbiology contributes to the Pharmaceutical Industry? Lab-Training.Com. Web.