Biotechnological Innovations

The field of biotechnology is constantly advancing. From finding ways to slow down the process of food spoilage, advancements in genetic engineering, to adapting organisms to clean up contaminated environments, new applications and biotechnological inventions are continuously being developed to help improve our world.

Oil-Eating Bacteria to Clean up Oil Spills

The oil-spill has been one of the biggest issues the environmental, health, agricultural and financial sectors have been tackling, and scientists in Europe have sequenced the genome for an oil-eating bacterium, which could lead to faster, more efficient ways to clean up oil spills.

That certain bacteria have the ability to metabolize oil isn’t a new discovery of course. Back in 1989, bacteria were used experimentally in attempts to clean up the 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez after it ran aground off the coast of Alaska. Though it made little to no difference back then, now that researchers have a complete blueprint for the oil-hungry bacteria: Alcanivorax borkumensis, they’ll have the ability to optimize the conditions for these bugs, enabling them to soak up the hundreds of millions of liters of oil that enter our waters each year.http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17230&ch=biotech

In my side

The Guimaras oil spill is the second such incident in the Philippines in the last eight months. In December 2005, a power barge ran aground on the nearby coast of Antique, dumping 364,000 litres of bunker oil. This oil spill severely polluted 40km of Antique’s coastline and decimated more than 230ha of pristine mangrove forest. Rehabilitation costs are estimated at US$ 2 million, and clean up efforts have not yet been completed and we know that oil spills are most destructive when they reach the shoreline,.Critical habitats such as coral reefs and mangrove forests are being affected and will take years to repair.
Oil Spills can affect the:

• Marine Life: Birds are the most vulnerable to the effects of an oil spill. When birds dive for food, they ingest oil (through the water and on the food they pick up) -- an extremely toxic substance. The oil also coats a bird's body, leading to a loss of thermal insulation and affecting their ability to fly. If mammals have fur, they are impacted by losing thermal insulation (causing them to freeze to death) and affecting their buoyancy (causing them to drown). For mammals that don't have fur, such as dolphins and orcas, oil fills their "blow hole", causing them to suffocate and drown. Oils toxicity effects fish, poisoning fish that is eaten by us, and by other aquatic life.

• Beyond Sea Life: Oil spills persist in the environment for years, and eventually making their to shores and smothering the roots of swamps and wetlands (killing the animal and marine life who inhabit these ecosystems).
• Economics: There is a massive cost associated with oil clean ups and remediation. Tainted waters and shores also affect tourism, pollutes fisheries (decreasing our fish supply and increasing the level of toxicity in the fish we eat), and diminishes coastal property values. In addition, industries that rely on sea water, like power plants and desalination plants, are deeply effected by oily water.

Now ,with the latest innovations in the field of biotechnology the oil-hungry bacteria: Alcanivorax borkumensi could be a great help to speed up the clean up of the oil spill in Guimaras Island in the Philippines by employing hundreds or thousands of this oil-hungry bacteria to ocean especially nearest to the affected places.