Applications of Synthetic Biology in Food Industry and Agriculture

Feeding the growing human population while preserving the environment is a major problem facing societies across the globe. With limited and contaminated arable land and water resources, current efforts are focused on finding novel solutions for solving these challenges without placing further burden on the environment. On the other hand, increased awareness about the role of nutritious food in human health and the concept of “food as medicine” has increased the demand for “functional food”.

Synthetic biologists are now at the forefront of collective efforts to address these pressing and emerging needs. With the help of sophisticated engineering strategies and tapping into the vast resources in cellular machinery, synthetic biologists have developed novel solutions that either have already found their way into relevant markets or are getting close to moving form laboratory research to commercialization. “Cellular agriculture” and “biosensors” are two of these fundamental tools to help with sustainability in the food and agriculture industries.

Cellular agriculture allows for the production of food with higher and tailored nutritional or medicinal value, food with longer shelf life and devoid of harmful ingredients such as allergens for susceptible populations. Enriching soil or feedstock with engineered microorganisms acting as biosensors helps with the detection of pathogens or contaminants, confers resistance to disease agents, and enhances the quality of animal or plant food products. These and similar innovative solutions are moving sustainable agricultural practices and the food industry into a new era where less resources are used for the production of more beneficial food.

• How does synthetic biology help the food industry and agriculture?

  Synthetic biology is impacting the food and agriculture industry through:

  • Engineering biosynthetic pathways and enzymes to (a) improve the efficiency of existing processes of food production, (b) increase the quality and nutritional value of produced food, and (c) generate novel food products;
  • Engineering host organisms as “cell factories” in form of (a) strain improvement of organisms that are innately capable of generating a specific food type/ingredient or useful agricultural metabolite, and (b) strain development through importing useful genes to host organisms that can render them capable of producing a desired food type/ingredient or agricultural metabolite;
  • Engineering traditional producers of food, i.e. agricultural plants and farm animals, to improve disease resistance, environmental tolerance, and food quality and yield.
• What is the advantage of applying synthetic biology strategies in food production and agricultural practices?

  Employing synthetic biology strategies in food and agricultural industries is:

  • Improving the quality, quantity and safety of food;
  • Enabling the production of food traditionally produced in plants and animals in microorganisms;
  • Generating novel food types or ingredients with medicinal value or higher shelf life;
  • Production of environmentally-friendly and more potent plant growth treatments, pesticides and fertilizers that can respond to specific environmental or organismal conditions and targets;
  • Minimizing the environmental impact of traditional methods of food production and agricultural practices;
  • Saving time and money for farmers, producers and manufacturers through reducing the cost of production, increasing access to renewable and more affordable sources of human food or animal feedstock, and streamlining and optimizing farming and production processes.
• What are prime examples of contributions made by synthetic biology to food and agriculture industries?
  • Engineered biosynthetic pathways comprised of genes from evolutionary lower organisms have led to the de novo synthesis of unsaturated, healthy fatty acids in an animal.
  • The stevia sweetener and the heart-healthy resveratrol, traditionally derived from plants, are now produced in commercial scales using engineered microorganisms.
  • Successful use of the CRISPR technology is already showing promise in crop plants, such as wheat, to confer resistance to a devastating fungus affecting yield.
  • Engineering microbes can improve the vitamin content in fermented foods like yogurt, cheese and cereal-based foods.
  • Using CRISPR technology, the peanut genes responsible for allergic reactions are turned off to develop hypoallergenic peanuts.
  • Chlorella microalgae have successfully been engineered to generate butter and oil for food and chemical industry applications.