Phytosynthetics: Transgenic Plants as the Primary Source of Industrial and Medical Feedstocks in the 21st Century

Abstract

With the completion of the sequencing of the Arabidopsis genome in 2000, and the success of numerous sequencing projects, including the human genome, we have entered a new era of plant biotechnology. First, we are beginning to understand at a functional level the roles of whole classes of genes and their protein products. Second, we have at our disposal an enormous resource of genes, including those specifying developmental patterns and those encoding entire metabolic pathways, which can be mobilized into transgenic plants. As a result, we have moved out of the “observational” phase of plant biology into a “synthetic” phase in which we can design plants to perform valuable functions for industry, medicine and the environment. Over the next 25 years, driven by the depletion of fossil fuel supplies and attempts to limit greenhouse gas emission, we will be obliged to develop plants capable of supplying oleochemical feedstocks, biodegradeable structural materials and a wide variety of pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. This will require sophisticated approaches to the genetic manipulation of plants and the processing of plant-derived products. In this presentation, the achievements of plant biotechnology and its potential for the sustainable production of oleochemicals, biodegradeable plastics, high-value proteins and complex organic compounds will be evaluated. The necessity to meet the needs for these products using plant resources will be supported using technological, economic and environmental criteria.