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Introduction
MAX ROEHR
Wien, Austria
Scientia difficilis sed fructuosa.
Biotechnology comprises a wide range of
disciplines - from classical biotechnology to
the so-called new biotechnologies.
Classical biotechnology is usually defined
as “the utilization of the biochemical potential of cells (in most cases of microbial origin)
or enzymes thereof for the industrial production of a great variety of useful substances”.
With the “new” biotechnologies the situation is somewhat more complex: If defined as
the production and industrial utilization of
genetically engineered cells, this will be according to the description given above. Frequently, however, the term biotechnology has
merely been used to describe the methodology of genetic engineering and similar techniques (see, e.g., US Congress, Office of
Technology Assessment, 1984). This rather
careless to be polite) handling of long-established terms, apart from being unfair, has
caused considerable confusion harmful not
only to biotechnologists but also to geneticists
and others; this may be seen, e.g., when ordering one of those many texts on biotechnology and being surprised by its contents. A
similar example of such misuse of terms has
been found by the author in the science col-
umn of a prominent newspaper, describing
progress in micro-surgery of the human ear as
an achievement in microbiology!
The present volume deals with classical
products of primary metabolism. Most of
these products are so-called high-volume/lowprice products. Their economic production
depends to a large degree on the properties
and costs of the respective raw materials, especially the carbon sources. The volume editor has, therefore, decided to include three
chapters on raw materials: The first chapter
(la) deals with sugar-based raw materials, the
second (lb) provides data on starch-based
raw materials for fermentation applications.
It is intended to fill a gap often experienced
by workers in the field when designing a certain process and facing the necessity to know
properties of raw materials only to be found
spread over the literature. In the third chapter basic problems of economics of supply
and utilization of the common sugar and
starch-based raw materials are discussed.
Most of the authors of the First Edition
where kind enough to lend their time and expertise to the new edition, which is gratefully
acknowledged. Several chapters of the first
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Introduction
edition are treated in other volumes of the series. Other amendments were made to improve the utility of the present volume. For
instance, in view of the fact that the former
chapter on amino acids mainly treated more
basic aspects of amino acid production, a separate chapter (14a) dealing with the industrial
production of these important commodities
has been provided.
During the preparation of the various
chapters, one striking feature became evident:
In contrast to the presumption that there had
been only little progress in the industry of
products of primary metabolism, almost everywhere considerable advances could be
identified. This was either due to the necessity of circumventing environmental problems,
to engineering progress especially in downstream processing, or simply due to better insights into the physiology, metabolic regula-
tion, and the genetics of the producing cellular systems.
Hopefully, therefore, this volume should
also be the basis for establishing more sustainable technologies for the next century. On
the other hand, knowledge of the various
processes for the production of commodities
treated in this volume could likewise be the
basis for establishing technical variants in less
industrialized countries using indigenous raw
materials.
It is thus hoped that the present volume
will contribute to further progress in biotechnology and will again find acceptance by
many colleagues. These, in turn, are kindly invited to contribute their criticism, to suggest
improvements, and to provide additional
knowledge and data.
Vienna, June 1996
Max Roehr