Molecular Farming of Industrial Enzymes: Products and Applications

As the size of the human population increased over the last few thousand years, human inventions were made to assist with the ease of survival and living. Some, such as agriculture, had positive effects. The industrial revolution in Europe and North America, however, began to have negative effects in the form of air, water, and ground pollution. This chapter discusses the incorporation of enzymes into industrial processes to replace hazardous chemicals and/or to remediate soil and water pollution generated by these industries. Industries discussed include textiles, pulp and paper, biofuel manufacturing, as well as remediation of toxic wastes produced by processing of fossil fuels in their various applications including plastics and polyester. Industrial enzymes are mostly produced through microbial fermentation today. The argument is made that utilizing molecular farming—the plant seed production platform for producing industrial enzymes, is the platform of choice for large-scale, rapid scale-up, difficult to produce enzymes. Examples of new enzyme applications are suggested. A short discussion of enzyme engineering technologies is included.