After World War II, several late-developing countries registered astonishingly high growth rates under strong state direction, making use of smart investment strategies, turnkey factories, and ...reverse-engineering, and taking advantage of the postwar global economic boom. Among these economic miracles were postwar Japan and, in the 1960s and 1970s, the so-called Asian Tigers-Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan-whose experiences epitomized the analytic category of the "developmental state."
InBetting on Biotech, Joseph Wong examines the emerging biotechnology sector in each of these three industrial dynamos. They have invested billions of dollars in biotech industries since the 1990s, but commercial blockbusters and commensurate profits have not followed. Industrial upgrading at the cutting edge of technological innovation is vastly different from the dynamics of earlier practices in established industries.
The profound uncertainties of life-science-based industries such as biotech have forced these nations to confront a new logic of industry development, one in which past strategies of picking and making winners have given way to a new strategy of throwing resources at what remain very long shots. Betting on Biotech illuminates a new political economy of industrial technology innovation in places where one would reasonably expect tremendous potential-yet where billion-dollar bets in biotech continue to teeter on the brink of spectacular failure.
Biofuels derived from biomass will play a major role in future renewable energy supplies in transport. Gaseous biofuels have superior energy balances, offer greater greenhouse gas emission reductions ...and produce lower pollutant emissions than liquid biofuels. Biogas derived through fermentation of wet organic substrates will play a major role in future transport systems. Biogas (which is composed of approximately 60% methane/hydrogen and 40% carbon dioxide) requires an upgrading process to reduce the carbon dioxide content to less than 3% before it is used as compressed gas in transport. This paper reviews recent developments in fermentative biogas production and upgrading as a transport fuel. Third generation gaseous biofuels may be generated using marine-based algae via two-stage fermentation, cogenerating hydrogen and methane. Alternative biological upgrading techniques, such as biological methanation and microalgal biogas upgrading, have the potential to simultaneously upgrade biogas, increase gaseous biofuel yield and reduce carbon dioxide emission.
Rapid advances in intensifying upstream processes for biologics production have left downstream processing as a bottleneck in the manufacturing scheme. Biomanufacturers are pursuing continuous ...downstream process development to increase efficiency and flexibility, reduce footprint and cost of goods, and improve product consistency and quality. Even after successful laboratory trials, the implementation of a continuous process at manufacturing scale is not easy to achieve. This paper reviews specific challenges in converting each downstream unit operation to a continuous mode. Key elements of developing practical strategies for overcoming these challenges are detailed. These include equipment valve complexity, favorable column aspect ratio, protein‐A resin selection, quantitative assessment of chromatogram peak size and shape, holistic process characterization approach, and a customized process economic evaluation. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive review of current trends and the path forward for implementing continuous downstream processing at the manufacturing scale.
Rapid advances in intensifying upstream processes for biologics production have left downstream processing as a bottleneck in the manufacturing scheme. Biomanufacturers are pursuing continuous downstream process development to increase efficiency and flexibility, reduce footprint and cost of goods, and improve product consistency and quality. Even after successful laboratory trials, the implementation of a continuous process at manufacturing scale is not easy to achieve.
Oligosaccharides are polymers with two to ten monosaccharide residues which have sweetener functions and sensory characteristics, in addition to exerting physiological effects on human health. The ...ones called nondigestible exhibit a prebiotic behavior being fermented by colonic microflora or stimulating the growth of beneficial bacteria, playing roles in the immune system, protecting against cancer, and preventing cardiovascular and metabolic issues. The global prebiotics market is expected to grow around 12.7% in the next 8 years, so manufacturers are developing new alternatives to obtain sustainable and efficient processes for application on a large scale. Most studied examples of biotechnological processes involve the development of new strategies for fructooligosaccharide, galactooligosaccharide, xylooligosaccharide, and mannanooligosaccharide synthesis. Among these, the use of whole cells in fermentation, synthesis of microbial enzymes (β-fructofuranosidases, β-galactosidases, xylanases, and β-mannanases), and enzymatic process development (permeabilization, immobilization, gene expression) can be highlighted, especially if the production costs are reduced by the use of agro-industrial residues or by-products such as molasses, milk whey, cotton stalks, corncobs, wheat straw, poplar wood, sugarcane bagasse, and copra meal. This review comprises recent studies to demonstrate the potential for biotechnological production of oligosaccharides, and also aspects that need more investigation for future applications in a large scale.
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