ABSTRACT
Our environment tends to deteriorate at a faster rate as the human population grows. The ongoing industrial revolution leads to pollution and a rapid decline in our natural resources. A long-term, environmentally sustainable strategy for industrialization is required to significantly lower, if not reverse, the rate at which the planet is rapidly becoming an unsuitable habitat for life. Environmental biotechnology is concerned with both its implications and applicability in the larger context of environmental protection. Biotechnology has a vital role in reducing the quantity of trash created, reducing the toxicity of waste generated, and finding better ways to dispose of and degrade the wastes that have been created. The innovative biotechnological approaches that emerged are point source reduction of environmental pollutants by bioremediation, phytoremediation, and microbial degradation of toxic and xenobiotic compounds. Bioprocess technology for off-site use of various organic solid wastes by converting them into value-added products such as compost, biofuels, and industrially essential enzymes not only reduces pollution but also makes them more economically feasible. The waste destruction/treatment methods like heavy metal treatment, biosorption, and bioleaching can be insinuated in combating the environmental pollutants. Metagenomics approaches have recently succeeded conventional, highly laborious methods for analyzing unexplored microbial diversity, and they have emerged as a crucial contributor to the development of an environmentally sustainable industrial and agricultural strategy. Biotechnology advances are giving us new ways to diagnose environmental issues and measure typical environmental conditions, allowing us to be more educated and environmentally and socially responsible.
