Key Concepts

We are on the road to destroy nature and our own habitat, but luckily, nature itself holds solutions to our challenges. When we combine biology and technology at scale, we use the potential of biosolutions. By applying nature's own tools such as fermentation, enzymes or bacteria, we are able to transform our economy and society. These natural processes are the key concepts of biosolutions.

The industrial revolution was defined by huge factories. The biorevolution is defined by micro-factories: the combination of biology and modern technology lets us use natural microorganisms and processes such as fermentation as biosolutions. And we have known about them for thousands of years.

Biosolutions have held such prominence in our ways that they have long since lost their novelty. Fermentation and yeast have been used as the key processes in making beer, wine, cheese and bread. Enzymes make it possible to wash our clothes at low temperatures and bacteria are vital for our health, but also work for us in e.g. yoghurt.

When we speak of biosolutions, we refer to the use of living microorganisms, enzymes, bacteria cultures, yeast etc. which, through precision fermentation and bio-refinement, can address some of the most pressing global challenges. While they are not new discoveries, we continue to explore the field to allow us to maximize the benefits from the solutions that are already available to us, and from those we are yet to discover.

Bacteria

With bacteria we can boost plant health and keep food products fresh and safe for longer.

There are more bacteria on this planet than grains of sand – billions more. Bacteria are the most powerful life form on earth. Bacteria and other microorganisms are essential for our survival (over 90 percent of the genes humans carry stem from the bacteria with which we live in close symbiosis). With bacteria we can boost plant health, keep food products fresh and safe for longer, simply because the good bacteria help to naturally inhibit the development of pathogens and mold.

Enzymes

All living things have enzymes. Enzymes are biologically active proteins found everywhere in nature.

When one substance needs to be transformed into another, nature uses enzymes to speed up and control the process. Enzymes are small biological catalysts that increase the speed of various processes in living organisms. In the absence of enzymes, all chemical reactions would be so slow that the organism could not function.

Enzymes can be used on an industrial scale to optimize output, deliver better products, and accelerate processes, while saving water, energy and raw materials.

Fermentation

Fermentation of food is an old technology used to safely preserve food for a longer period of time: for example in bread, cheese, wine and fish.

Fermentation is the breakdown of carbs like starch and sugar by microorganisms such as bacteria or yeast. The technology is widely used in the current food system, where it is used in anything from animal feed to yoghurt. Fermentation has the potential to enable a more sustainable food system with safer food by reducing spoilage and pathogens.

Fermentation can also help produce healthier food and reduce food waste: for example, by improving the nutritional composition of food and prolonging shelf life. Microorganisms can be genetically engineered to produce high-value products such as nutrients, bio-pheromones, and bio-materials through precision fermentation.

Microorganisms

Microorganisms encompass various kinds of microscopic organisms that are found all around us in the millions.

There are multiple kinds of microorganisms, and specifically bacteria, yeasts and algae are used in biosolutions. Their roles differ, yet they often use organic carbon as fuel for their natural processes, such as fermentation. Their processes and outputs are essential for our environment and for human life.

Precision fermentation

Precision fermentation uses microorganisms to produce specific molecules and functioning ingredients.

When we use microorganisms like bacteria, microalgae, yeast or fungi to produce various molecules such as milk proteins, enzymes, pheromones or flavoring and aroma substances for food, we are using precision fermentation. Specific genes encoding the sought molecules are introduced into the microorganisms and expressed through the fermentation process.

Precision fermentation has already revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry. For example, for the last 30 years, insulin has been produced through precision fermentation of yeast (instead of by extraction from animal pancreases), in which the human insulin gene has been introduced. The potential for precision fermentation is great for the food system and represents an important biosolution. Importantly, the products are identical to the original ones (e.g. milk proteins, pheromones, or flavors), but no animals or plants are involved in their production, hence substantially reducing the environmental footprint.

Yeast

Yeast consumes sugar and produces by-products such as alcohol, carbon dioxide that makes bread dough rise and other biochemical compounds.

Yeast is another microorganism, which has been present in the world for hundreds of millions of years. Yeast is actually a fungus, but it grows as single cells, rather than as a mushroom. Yeast enables fermentation, and thanks to advances in genetical engineering yeast – just like bacteria – can be modified to produce high value products.

Biosolutions Glossary

The world of biosolutions is complex and can contains a multitude of convoluted concepts. Navigating this space can be challenging, as it covers diverse areas such as biotechnology, environmental solutions, microorganisms and much more, each with its own technical language. To help make this landscape more accessible, we offer this glossary, aiming to clarify key terminology, provide clear definitions and explanations to support your understanding and engagement with biosolutions.