Portugal is an oceanic country, with a coastline of approximately 2,500 km, boasting one of the world’s largest exclusive economic zones, extending over 1,700,000 km², encompassing a great diversity of ecosystems and resources. The CoLAB B2E was created to leverage and showcase the best tools for polishing this blue diamond. However, the questions we are most frequently asked are: “What is blue biotechnology?” or “What is blue bioeconomy?” We hope this brief text will briefly explain these concepts.

What is (Blue) Biotechnology?

The word Biotechnology has Greek origins, where Bio means life; techno, technique; and logia, knowledge or study. There are several definitions for biotechnology; the one we have chosen for this introduction is the one used by the United Nations (UN) in the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity: “Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or their derivatives, to make or modify products or processes for specific uses.”

The earliest manifestations of biotechnology date back thousands of years, to fermentation processes for the production of beer (and other alcoholic beverages) and for the manufacture of bread, as well as cheese, vinegar, and yogurt. Currently, the biotechnology industry extends to various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, food, and the environment, among others.

Blue biotechnology is built on the same scientific and technological principles as other fields of biotechnology, but the source, process, and/or final product is aquatic.

Marine biotechnology uses living marine organisms to create applications in diverse sectors such as health, industry (textile and chemical), energy, and agriculture.

 

What is Blue Bioeconomy?

There is still no consensus on the definition of bioeconomy. From a broad economic perspective, as advocated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it is the “set of economic activities related to the invention, development and production of biological products and processes”⁵.

The bioeconomy has emerged as a new economic paradigm that surpasses traditional fossil-based models, driven by biotechnological innovations to ensure resource-efficient processes and by circular economy business models that avoid waste and keep resources in use for as long as possible⁶. The bioeconomy is strengthening bridges between science, industry and society for a greater balance between socio-economic, geopolitical and environmental issues. It thus encompasses the use of renewable biological resources from terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and marine bioresources⁷ – the Blue Bioeconomy.

The European Commission presents a detailed definition and also establishes that the bioeconomy must be sustainable and circular. To succeed, the European bioeconomy must have sustainability and circularity at its core, driving the renewal of industries, the modernization of primary production systems, environmental protection, and biodiversity conservation.

When Biotechnology and Bioeconomy Unite…

Impacts on the Economy

The emerging sectors of bioeconomy and blue biotechnology look to groups of marine organisms that have, until now, often been overlooked for commercial exploitation. This includes microorganisms (microalgae, bacteria, and fungi), algae, and invertebrates (e.g., starfish, cucumbers, or sea urchins). The blue bioeconomy transforms aquatic biomass into food, feed, nutraceuticals, medicines, cosmetics, energy, packaging, clothing, and much more. Blue biotechnology is the application of science and technology to living aquatic organisms for the production of knowledge, goods, and services.

In 2018, the ocean economy represented 5.1% of our gross domestic product, 5% of national exports, and 4% of employment. These figures are among the highest in EU member states.⁴

Science, innovation, and technology have played a key role in shaping a technology-based and innovative business fabric, strengthening skilled employment. Between 2014 and 2019, R&D expenditure in the blue economy represented 3.6% of total national R&D expenditure (€433.6 million). Higher education institutions accounted for 64.4% of this value, followed by the State (20.7%), companies (14.7%), and private non-profit institutions (0.2%).¹

According to OECD projections for 2030, the blue economy should outperform the growth of the global economy as a whole, both in terms of gross value added and employment.⁶

Currently in Portugal, there are about two dozen R&D units conducting research in the area of ​​blue biotechnology⁴ (and less than 10% are business entities).

 

Areas where these synergies are highlighted:

Blue biotechnology has impacted the bioeconomy using a market-driven approach.

Dedicated to science, where it identifies and responds to current challenges faced by stakeholders in the value chain and provides integrated solutions that are suitable for solving these challenges sustainably1.

Health

Extracts from marine organisms have been used as medicines for over 2,000 years. In the 19th and 20th centuries, cod liver oil became a famous nutritional supplement. Ocean exploration has allowed the identification of a growing number of bioactive compounds from living marine organisms. Several medicines marketed today are derived from marine organisms. Blue biotechnology is a particularly promising sector in the health field, with the development of new pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products (e.g., to combat oncological diseases, as well as antibiotics, antivirals, analgesics, pain, asthma and inflammation), and others with applications in aesthetics such as bioprocessed fish bones into high-value collagen for cosmeceutical products; fish scales used for bone tissue engineering applications11.

Industry

In industry, some petroleum-based plastics can be replaced by bio-based alternatives, while fishing nets can be recovered and recycled to manufacture sports textiles1; and we also have the transformation of fish skin from the fish processing industry into fashion products12.

Seaweed-based fertilizers now allow precision agriculture to achieve unprecedented harvests of various leafy vegetables and fruits, with lower environmental impacts, and this is happening alongside emerging marine resources.

Environment

In the environment, studies have shown that marine microorganisms exhibit unique biodegradation pathways to break down various organic pollutants. Other studies have also shown that some marine organisms produce environmentally friendly chemicals, such as biopolymers and biosurfactants, which can be used in the management and treatment of environmental waste. Biofuels produced from microalgae are one of the economically viable ways to reduce fossil fuel consumption13. Microalgae are considered better sources of biofuels than higher plants due to their high oil content; ease of propagation (they can be cultivated in seawater or brackish water, not competing with conventional agricultural resources); the residual biomass after oil extraction can be used as food or fertilizer; and the biochemical composition can be controlled by modifying growth conditions.

 

In short,

The oceans constitute a space extremely rich in biodiversity, possessing the oldest and most diverse life forms, distributed across a wide range of habitats, from the coast to the deep sea.

Thus, the marine environment is a very rich source of biological and chemical diversity among all types of ecosystems. It has an enormous variety of living organisms as well as unique chemical compounds.

The biotechnological blue bioeconomy must be carried out sustainably, requiring high investments and projects. Marine biotechnology involves multidisciplinary collaboration to stimulate investment and innovation, as well as bringing academia and industry closer together.

Want to know how we’ve been bridging the gap between Science and Business? Learn more here.

Referências:

1. Estratégia Nacional para o mar 2021-2030, República Portuguesa. 2021.

2. Oxford Dictionaries. 2022.

3. ONU, Convenção de Biodiversidade 1992, Art. 2. 1992.

4. Álvaro Sardinha | EconomiaAzul. Projeto INOVSEA. 2021

5. OECD (2018) Meeting Policy Challenger for a Sustainable Bioeconomt. OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264292345.

6. Helena Vieira, Miguel Costa Leal, Ricardo Calado  Fifty Shades of Blue: How Blue Biotechnology is Shaping the Bioeconomy. Trends in Biotechnology. Volume 38, Issue 9, September 2020, Pages 940-943. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2020.03.011. 2021.

7. Ligtvoet, A., Maier, F., Sijtsma, L., van den Broek, L. A. M., Doranova, A., Eaton, D., Guznajeva, T., Kals, J., Le Gallou, M., Poelman, M., Saes, L., & Zhechkov, R. Blue Bioeconomy Forum: Roadmap for the blue bioeconomy. European Commission. https://doi.org/10.2826/613128. 2019.

8. European Commission . Innovating for Sustainable Growth: a Bioeconomy for Europe. Bruxelas. Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. Publications Office of the European Union ISBN 978-92-79-25376-8. https://doi.org/10.2777/6462. 2012.

9. Comunicação da comissão ao parlamento europeu, ao conselho, ao comité económico e social europeu e ao comité das regiões. Uma bioeconomia sustentável na Europa: Reforçar as ligações entre a economia, a sociedade e o ambiente. 2018.

10. European Commission. Blue bioeconomy and blue biotechnology. URL:https://ec.europa.eu/oceans-and-fisheries/ocean/blue-economy/blue-bioeconomy-and-blue-biotechnology_en. 2016.

11. OECD. The Bioeconomy to 2030 – DESIGNING A POLICY AGENDA. 2009.

12. Kara A, Tamburaci S, Tihminlioglu F, Havitcioglu H. Bioactive fish scale incorporated chitosan biocomposite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Int J Biol Macromol. 2019 Jun 1;130:266-279. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.02.067. Epub 2019 Feb 20. PMID: 30797008. 2019.

13. Mallon, J. Is fish skin the new frontier for ecofriendly fashion? Fashion United. Published online November 5, 2019. https://fashionunited.uk/news/ fashion/is-fish-skin-the-new-frontier-for-eco-friendlyfashion/ 2019110546042. 2019. 2019