The special section on Commercializing Industrial Biotechnology will open with a general commentary on the challenges and opportunities in the industrial biotech field.
The first article in the special section will discuss sustainable production of silk and leather. The revolutionary platform from Bolt Threads will be described, in which silk is produced from a fermentation process based on spider silk proteins and leather is produced from a type of mushroom.
The next article will discuss current trends in cell-based meat. It will provide a high level overview of the challenges that need to be addressed before cell-based meat can reach price parity with regular meat.
A third article will overview LanzaTech's platform for converting industrial off gases into fuels and chemicals. This technology is contributing to a carbon-neutral, sustainable future.
A fourth article in the special section will address upcoming agricultural practices that harness the plant-soil microbiome. Using their innovative platform, AgBiome is able to fully sequence soil microbes and deploy them for disease- and pest-control in crops. This will allow farmers to better manage their crops — reducing crop damage and enhancing yields.