Industrial Biotechnology

The last five decades have witnessed a tremendous upsurge in the amount of xenobiotic compounds in the environment by industrial activities, some of them being highly toxic, recalcitrant with high bio-accumulating and bio-magnification properties. Whilst biotechnology is the development of products or processes using plants, animals or micro-organisms, "Environmental Biotechnology" is the multidisciplinary integration of sciences and engineering to utilise the huge biochemical potential of microorganisms and plants for the sustenance of resources. Recent advances in biotechnology have driven forward the harnessing of micro-organisms and plants to help and protect our fragile environment and formation of ecofriendly products. The aim of this book is to determine the processes and utilization of raw materials in the industries, formation and release of pollutants (air, water and soil) in the environment, effect and impact of the pollutants on biotic and abiotic components of the environment and finally identifying the physical, chemical, biological and alternating methods for treatment of pollutants in the industrial effluents. Efforts have also been made to identify the methods for bioconversion and recovery of products from the effluents by biotechnological methods.