GROW YOUR OWN SUPPLY CHAIN
WHAT IS BIOMANUFACTURING? According to 42 U.S. Code § 18901(4), the definition of bioman- ufacturing is “the utilization of biological systems to develop new and advance existing products, tools, and processes at commercial scale.” Biomanufacturing uses microorganisms to make prod- ucts in a way that’s similar to how a neighborhood microbrewery uses yeast to produce beer. Te range of products that can be biomanufactured is limited only by scientists’ ability to use genetic engineering to reprogram the central metabolism of those cells. Billions of these engineered microorganisms are suspended in a watery liquid in a fermentation vat and fed sugars and salts. As more and more of this material is produced, it is taken out of the vat and turned into precursors for products such as explosives, reactive coatings and textiles, optical and sensor materials or new therapeutics including vaccines. Or it can produce more ordi- nary—but much needed—materials such as the rubber in tires, polyurethane for cushion foam or the polyethylene that makes plastic bottles. In effect, these microbes are miniature factories programmed to make the high-value molecules needed by Amer- ican industry and the military.
Te process begins inside a research laboratory, where scientists reprogram a microbial cell’s DNA to make it produce a desired chemical instead of, or in addition to, simply replicating itself. Designing these changes in the cell’s operating system is compa- rable to opening a new app on a smartphone—a change in the program renders an entirely different set of operations. Recent advances in DNA engineering have made this possible, and the science is advancing rapidly. Biomanufacturing represents an industrial revolution and holds the potential to enhance exist- ing materials and produce new ones. Te possibilities include:
• Living textiles for environmentally interactive uniforms.
• Light-bending camouflage for warfighters, vehicles and aircraft.
• Decontaminating lotions that last a lifetime with a single application.
• High-performance fuels generated without a conven- tional refinery.
• Heat-resistant protective surfaces for applications that require thermal protection.
• Jam-resistant bioelectronic computing components.
VATS VS. SMOKESTACKS By using plant-based feedstocks, biomanufacturing brings many advantages over petrochemical-based production.
bioindustrial revolution. 14 Army AL&T Magazine Fall 2023
The world is on the cusp of a
Biomanufacturing operates at lower ambient temperatures and pressures, which reduces utility costs and environmental impacts. It uses fewer toxic materials such as industrial solvents. Petroleum plants consume more energy and have a far more elaborate logis- tics train. Petrochemical facilities rely on an oil supply, much of which is controlled by foreign governments.
Also, petroleum-based manufacturing is a relatively stagnant tech- nology compared to biomanufacturing, where the science and technology are ever improving. In academic and military research laboratories all over the nation, chemists and biologists work with systems engineers and use artificial intelligence to steadily improve upon the three essential elements of biomanufacturing:
• Increasing the sophistication of DNA engineering to produce new kinds of materials, including as-of-yet unconceived of materials.
• Improving the effectiveness of the fermentation process in the vats to increase material yield.
• Refining the methods for extracting the useful material that microbial organisms generate, also increasing yield.
If you think about the emerging biomanufacturing infrastructure as a landscape, what you see is an archipelago of research labora- tories in which scientists are hard at work creating new strains of DNA-engineered microbial organisms. Tese organisms, and the chemical processes for extracting the desired product, are tested and optimized using small-volume cultures in bench-scale chemi- cal glassware. If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so the journey to industrial-scale production begins with one flask. Industry needs the new material available at the kilogram quantities or greater. Within DOD, a consortium of laborato- ries is emerging that will deliver biomanufactured products and processes to industry. Te DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center and the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory hold key roles in that effort.
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