The demand for innovative and sustainable chemical processes is increasing due to many pressures. Most recently, disruptions of supply chains for critical minerals in the U.S. have set off alarm bells in the defense sector, encouraging private and public investment in untapped domestic sources for metals that have historically been obtained from geopolitical adversaries. Similarly, a continued dependence on foreign fossil fuels, for both energy and commodities, seems untenable in the long term. Superseding supply chain concerns, climate change looms large.
Biological processes, transferred from nature to industry through biological engineering, are potential green solutions across diverse industrial sectors, from mining to pharmaceuticals. Production of chemicals from renewable plant material could offer sustainable replacements for fossil fuel-derived commodities. Rare earth elements, captured by bacterial proteins, might establish a domestic supply chain for these metals in the U.S., tapping into waste sources previously inaccessible to traditional solvent extraction methods. At the core of these bioprocessing concepts are two driving philosophies: First, new, accessible, and more sustainable varieties of feedstocks become...
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