ABSTRACT
In the last years, bioeconomy has been proposed through the use of renewable biological resources for conversion into value-added products, such as biofuels, food and feeds, and bio-based products with economic, environmental, and social sustainability. In that context, biorefineries constitute the operative units for the chemical, physical, and biological conversion of biomass, and according to its origin and chemical composition, first-, second-, and third-generation biorefineries have been established.
Cutting-edge innovations in biotechnology play an important role for moving towards integrated biorefineries. The application of genomic and metagenomics technologies facilitates bioprospecting of novel microbes and enzymes and its characterization, while metabolic engineering, gene editing, directed evolution, and synthetic biology allow the design of cell factories capable of carrying out chemical transformations and producing conventional and new bio-based products.
Understanding of biological systems and their technological applications is currently the basis for an emerging knowledge-based innovation in bioeconomy.
