Can synthetic biology offer solutions to environmental challenges?

Source: The post is based on the article “Can synthetic biology offer solutions to environmental challenges?” published in Down To Earth on 12th July 2022.

What is the News?

As per study by the USA, due to climate change one-third of all animal and plant species on the planet could face extinction by 2070.

Environmentalists consider synthetic biology as a potential tool to preserve biodiversity and restore the natural ecosystem.

What is Synthetic Biology?

Synthetic biology or synbio is a broad and dynamic field of innovation encompassing the design and construction of new biological parts that redesign existing natural biological systems to address real-time and real-world problems.

How can synthetic biology be used ​​to preserve biodiversity and restore the natural ecosystem?

Synthetic biology could be helpful in use for sustainable production of bioenergy, drugs, and food.

Interesting application of synbio are its usage for the capture of carbon dioxide from industrial emissions.The captured gas is then recycled to fuels using microorganisms.

Potentially, such transformations comprise benefits ranging from protecting threatened species to providing synthetic alternatives to wildlife products.

This technology can also help us resolve some of society’s most imperative problems from infectious disease to drug development to sustainability.

What are the concerns associated with misuse of synthetic biology?

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