[Jessica]

In a modern city life we have to deal with enormous waste that we produce through industries and homes. Without proper waste management, our cities will essentially become un-livable. Modern Biotechnology has come up to solve this problem in many ways.

There are various types of wastes like industrial waste, domestic waste and so on. Modern Environmental Biotechnology can provide proper management for them and help us to become more eco-friendly. The microbes have the potential to break and degrade the waste toxins. Australia has already taken initiative to use Biotechnology as a waste management tool. If such kinds of harmful contaminants are directly released in the river or any other source, they will pollute our water systems.

Biotechnology is also being eyed to deal with some of our nuclear and radiation waste, like the Deinococcus radiodurans bacterium may be used to manage the nuclear waste. This bacterium is capable of intoxication of mercury which is connected with the production of nuclear weapons. During the treatment of sewage, bacteria can convert the nitrogenous compound to Carbon-di-oxide and nitrogen.

Several industries like chemical industry, food industry, and brewing industries produce a lot of waste which is needed to be properly managed. Modern biotechnology uses biological processes to manage the waste from such factories. Modern biotechnology can use microbes that are suitable to break down these waste products and it converts some of it into useful products.

Vermiculture is a term used to manage the waste, it refers to the culture of earthworms. Earthworm can degrade the waste due to its gizzard system. Eisenia foetida is used extensively to manage waste and it can be used indoors as well as outdoors. Thus the waste is converted into fertilizer which increases the fertility of soil.

Certain bacterias utilize the toxin materials as their food and can convert the toxic materials into the effective compound for the soil. Thauera aromatic has the capacity to intoxicate the toxin properties of toluene and there is another bacterium that can break even the petroleum. Thus it is apparent that with the advent of Biotechnology and genetic engineering we can manage the waste very easily and effectively. We the people of 21st century are concerned with waste management as well as we think about our climate. So avoiding the chemical treatment and taking the biological system for waste management will expose us to a livable world.