Beyond microbial fermentation: Reimagining biomanufacturing for low-resource environments

Beyond microbial fermentation: Reimagining biomanufacturing for low-resource environments Although traditional biomanufacturing is based on microbial or mammalian cell culture, plants can be grown in bioreactors and hold enormous promise for use in resource-limited environments. Biomanufacturing is often defined as the use of microorganisms (such as bacteria, yeast or fungi) or mammalian cells that have been programmed using the tools of synthetic biology to produce important chemicals, fuels, medicines, and materials, from plant derived feedstocks, grown in tanks called bioreactors. Although these products are often referred to as “plant-based”, in reality these biomolecules are made by microbes or animal cells. What is often not well recognized is that plant cells themselves can be reprogrammed as biomanufacturing powerhouses and are particularly well suited for use in low-resource environments such as isolated communities, areas impacted by natural disasters, war zones, and even in space.