Environmental Biotech

Environmental biotechnology addresses pollution, climate change and ecosystem restoration. The session covers bioremediation for oil spills and heavy metals, plastic-degrading enzymes (PETase, MHETase) and engineered improvements, wastewater treatment biotechnology, carbon-negative microbial systems (LanzaTech ethanol, Solar Foods Solein), environmental DNA (eDNA) biomonitoring, and pollution-degradation engineering. Discussion addresses microplastic detection and remediation, mycoremediation with fungal platforms, biosurveillance for emerging pathogens via wastewater (the COVID lessons applied to polio and mpox), and the integration of environmental biotech with broader environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks.