Fermentation Technology: Driving Biotechnology to Work

Fermentation helps in producing biologicals using either a living organism or a part of it and it is considered to be the core of bioprocess technology. Developments in fermentation technology have played a major role in the manufacturing of biologicals in India for the last 100 years. In India, the use of fermentation technology started after the second World War where industries started producing alcohol, vitamins, etc. using stirred tank reactors. The real boom of fermentation technology in India was seen after the establishment of antibiotic industries such as IDPL, HAL, Alembic, Sarabhai Chemicals, and many others. Simultaneously, fermentation research started in CSIR laboratories like CFTRI, Mysore; CDRI, Lucknow; NCL, Pune; and RRL, Jammu, and in a few other places. With the setting up of the Department of Biotechnology, India has started producing recombinant proteins and other biologicals using fermentation technology. However, in recent times more emphasis is given on Advance Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP), which includes cell, gene therapy, and tissue engineering-based products. There are also demands for producing products using cellular agriculture and proteins using precision fermentation. Thus, there is a need to adopt fermentation technology to cater to the need for ATMP and production of many complex biologicals using multicellular organisms. To achieve this, a paradigm shift in fermentation technology is needed particularly in the area of generation of trained technical manpower, setting up of bioprocess engineering research centers, and more importantly manufacturing of equipment and control systems for the fermentation plant. This chapter describes the chronology of fermentation technologies and their use in the promotion of the biotechnology industry in India. It also discusses a much-needed strategy to harness its huge potential for the benefit of society at large.