By: Victor Lim
Victor Lim is a second year undergraduate student at Brown University. He is pursuing a double major in Economics (on a Business track) and Biology (on a Physiology and Biotechnology track).
Clean water is rapidly becoming scarce across the world. Despite our planet being covered in over 70% of water, only a small fraction (3%) comprises freshwater. According to WWF, by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to suffer from water shortages accompanied with the degradation of many water sources such as rivers and lakes.
With the world’s water supply depleting at an exponential rate, we are in dire need of innovative solutions to the water crisis we are facing. Biotechnology presents possible promise in relieving this crisis. Biotechnology is defined as the utilization of biological systems to develop products and processes.
One of the methods biotechnology that can be used to relieve the impending water crisis is through treating waste with enzymes. Ocean waters have been contaminated with a multitude of pollutants ranging from industrial waste to runoff fertilizers. These contaminants however, act as substrates for many different enzymes (proteins which act as catalysts, speeding up a chemical reaction) and these enzymes are therefore able to break down those pollutants into simple, harmless compounds. Compared with conventional methods of treating waste, biological enzymes are able to target specific substrates in the waste, and they remain unchanged by the end of the catalysation process, allowing it to be reused for the next cycle, minimising the costs involved in treating the waste, making it more accessible to a wider range of companies.
Enzymes Used to Breakdown Pollutants
1. Lacasses
Lacasses are primarily used in the textile industry, where they are able to polymerase and oxidize dyes that tend to be non-biodegradable
2. Lysosomes
Lysosomes are able to break down phenolic pollutants to insoluble masses. By converting the waste to insoluble masses, they are substantially less toxic and easily separable
3. Tyrosinases Lysosomes are able to break down phenolic pollutants to insoluble masses. By converting the waste to insoluble masses, they are substantially less toxic and easily separable
4. Peroxidases
Peroxidases have a wide variety of substrates and are able to catalyse the breakdown of many chemical compounds such as dyes, phenols, and aromatic compounds.
Myriad water sources across the globe have been contaminated to such a point where clean water is deemed a luxury in some communities. For example, approximately 40% of Sub-Saharan Africa does not have access to clean water. It is imperative that clean water be accessible to all, and its availability not be restricted to the wider community. The water crisis is increasingly exacerbated with factors such as climate change, the accelerating consumption of water, and from an economical perspective, the lack of financing in communities. The rate at which we are consuming water greatly exceeds the water supply and we need to address this issue. The water crisis not only presents problems with access to drinking water, but rather, creates a domino effect affecting our economy as a whole. One such example would be the impact the water crisis creates on the agriculture industry, where farmers are facing reduced agricultural yields due to the lack of rainfall and unstable temperatures.
There are many ways in tackling the water crisis. Methods such as filtration, coagulation, and chemical precipitation are just some of the examples of physico chemical treatments of hazardous waste in water. Despite the advantages that come with these commercialized processes, they pose several disadvantages which serve as barriers of entry for the industry as a whole such as the high operating cost and demanding energy consumption. Enzymatic waste treatment however, does not require specific conditions for them to function and because of their biodegradable nature, it promotes a more sustainable method of treating waste.
