REVI EW PAPER

Environmental Biotechnology Research: Challenges

and Opportunities in Latin America
Janeth Sanabria
Accepted: 9 April 2014
Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Abstract Latin American countries have an extensive biological diversity and a
tropical or subtropical climate. This condition has advantages for development and
for the implementation of biotechnological solutions for environmental problems.
Environmental biotechnology could be used to enhance biodegradation, waste
recovery, and also for the development of biotechnology-based products to diagnose
and reduce environmental impacts such as biosensors, biopesticides, biofertilizers
and biofuels. To generate new environmental biotechnological products, Latin
American countries must not only overcome the known limitations associated with
investment in science and technology and in human resource training, but also
develop their own vision of using environmental biotechnology, adapted to the
economic, and environmental context. Biotechnology used wisely as a tool for
promoting sustainable development in Latin American countries may also con-
tribute to the solution of problems that represent potential risks to society and the
environment in general. This document discusses the context of the research and
innovation in Latin American countries around environmental biotechnology and
also reviews perspectives for the improvement of these developments.
Keywords Environmental biotechnology Microbial diversity Reactors
Contamination Sustainability Policies
Introduction
The term environmental biotechnology has been coined to describe the use of
biological systems, ranging from bacteria to plants, to achieve environmental
J. Sanabria (&)
Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Research Group on Advanced
Processes for Chemical and Biological Treatments, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
e-mail: janeth.sanabria@correounivalle.edu.co
1 3
J Agric Environ Ethics
DOI 10.1007/s10806-014-9502-2
remediation, pollution prevention, detection and monitoring of contaminants and more
recently transforming waste to produce energy, bio-polymers and others benets
(Marousek et al. 2013b). When a natural ecosystemis polluted, the treatment process is
referred to as bioremediation, or in situ bioremediation. When the pollutant is treated
end of pipe, the process is termed biotreatment or ex-situ bioremediation (Ivanov
et al. 2010). In Latin America, bioremediation has traditionally targeted readily
organic matter. Today, environmental biotechnology focuses on more challenging
pollutants, like micro pollutants, greenhouse gases, heavy metals, dyes, etc. Due to
advances in molecular biology and biochemical methods, knowledge of the ecological,
genetic, and metabolic diversity of organisms and their use for bioremediation have
had seen considerable advances. For example, in phyto-remediation processes, the use
and acquisition of organisms, or their enzymes, in the efcient transformation of a
pollutant (Marousek et al. 2013a); the treatment of pesticides and nutrients, the
generation of environmentally friendly products, and the production of bio-fuels.
Furthermore, the coupling of technologies has been credited with achieving an
enhanced performance of biological systems. (Mora et al. 2005; Sanabria et al. 2010;
Li et al. 2014). Progress in the understanding of microbial diversity along with the use
of molecular techniques and the development of newdiagnosis methods have opened a
new range of alternatives for research and innovation in systems and treatment
processes (Divakara et al. 2010; Dunlop et al. 2011). In spite of this progress of
research around the world, the development and operation of innovative technologies
to solve Latin Americas environmental issues are incipient, and a common strategy is
the usage of scaled systems that have been developed and patented in developed
nations. A direct connection may be seen between these conditions and the
comparatively low level of private and public investment in science and technology,
in particular regarding those investments and care for the environment and therefore
resulting in a disappointing perspective for innovation in environmental biotechnol-
ogy. In this sense, productive processes (Voget-Kleschin 2013), and government
policies must include, as a prerequisite, environmental sustainability in the process of
turning current societies into green societies, as well as minimizing waste and
emissions plus processes on making the most of product output.
Research and development centers can be an effective organizational space where
researchers and the manufacturing productive sector can nd innovative ways for
effective care for the environment. This paper compares the most representative countries
in Latin America as well as highlighting some of the difculties behind this approach
describing opportunities in which researchers in environmental biotechnology could
achieve technological innovation and scientic global competitive quality in the region.
The Context of Environmental Biotechnology
Among the environmental discussions occupying governments throughout the world
in recent years, global warming, nutritional safety, the water supply, and the
reduction of infectious diseases stand out. In the case of greenhouse gases, the
objectives are focused on the reduction of nitrogen oxides, CO
2
, CH
4
, N
2
O and
ozone; with CO
2
and CH
4
in the spotlight because of the volumes in which these are
J. Sanabria
1 3
produced (Patterson 2012), both the increasing demand for water resources (in
intensive livestock operations and human consumption), and the high cost of
treatment (due to the contamination of surface and groundwater sources), result in
an increased cost for populations to have access to drinking water, and in incidence
the rate of water-borne diseases.
With the implementation of environmental protection legislation in some
countries, the setting of standards for industry and the enforcement of compliance;
environmental biotechnology grew in importance in the 80s. This has motivated the
search for clean production processes (diminished wastes and reuse), thus
minimizing the use of harmful fertilizers, herbicides, and fungicides. In contrast to
most developing countries, there is no information on the quantities, location, and
effect of important pollutants like micro pollutants, pesticides and nutrients. Political
priorities in Latin America must continue with industry and commerce and those are
activities which are not associated with caring for the environment. We could cite, as
a striking example, the fact that from the total of wastewaters produced in Colombia,
only 25 % is treated to remove organic compounds (Ministerio de Ambiente 2010).
Meanwhile norms to control the emission of nutrients, micro-pollutants and toxic
compounds are rarely included, meaning that real action to protect the environment
and ensure for public health is minimal. The increasing occurrence of diseases like
cholera has been related to a decline in water quality (Ramamurthy et al. 2011).
Different studies on biotechnology competence in Latin America (including
projects, qualied human resources, laboratories, etc.) recognize the importance of
biotechnology and thereby, the necessity for raising public and private investments
and improving human capacity (Bota 2003; Roca 2003; Leff 2012). In this sense,
some countries (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina) have made great efforts to increase
investment in science and technology including Biotechnology. Unfortunately,
these same studies show that only a fraction of these efforts is focused on topics
related directly to the protection of the environment. This may be due to a lack of
knowledge of the actors of environmental Biotechnology, their characteristics and
benets. As an illustration, Fig. 1 shows publications from the last ten years in
Brazil and Colombia in environmental areas as an indicator of these phenomena.
Within this context the use of biotechnology represents 4550 % of research
registered in environmental areas for Colombia and Brazil respectively. This is
evidence that from the total of published research, in the environmental issues it
does not exceed 3 %, despite differences of investment in science and technology in
those countries with Brazil at nearly 1, 2 %, and Colombia 0.18 % of Gross
National Product, (World Bank 2014) Similar results were obtained for other Latin
American countries. It is clear that, while there are no policies to control
environmental pollution, natural resources will continue to deteriorate with negative
consequences to both the economy and to public health for these regions.
Innovation Opportunities in Environmental Biotechnology
The latest generation biotechnology or recombinant DNA biotechnology with the
genetic alteration of living organisms is the most accepted denition for Biotechnology
Challenges and Opportunities in Latin America
1 3
in Latin America. With recombinant DNA technology, the scientist can introduce a
gene sequence that confers a feature within an organism, creating a genetically
modied organism (GMO). Nevertheless, there is an intrinsic limitation for this
modication in environmental biotechnology because natural competence like
predations and other extreme environmental conditions. In this sense the practice
remains the adaptation of what exists in the gene pool of biosystems in real conditions.
For decades, the development of biological treatment systems focused on easily
degradable organic compounds present in wastewater efuents and in solid wastes. In
these cases, most of the attention was aimed at designing systems to remove these
compounds with high efciencies. Most of these technologies were developed and
improved in developed countries and were brought to Latin America, without adapting
them to local conditions. Meanwhile, new demands arose worldwide for the treatment
and diagnosis of new forms of contamination, such as pesticides, heavy metals,
colorants, liquid phase and volatile cyclic organic compounds (VOCs), drugs and their
by-products, etc., (Gavrilescu 2010). In most Latin American countries, these
pollutants are discharged into the environment without any treatment. Both
bioremediation and the latest generation biotechnology could be used to contribute
to solve environmental problems and obtained value products. The key to successful
bioremediation is to harness the naturally occurring catalytic capability of microbes to
transform environmental pollutants. Using the potential of biodiversity, the study of
ecological adaptation of bacterial consortia and the use of genomic, proteomic,
metabolomics, and computational techniques as well as the generation of micro-
pollutant sensors, will give rise to reliable and innovative options for cheaper
decontamination. Most Latin American countries are located in the tropical zone, with
warm climates, and high biodiversity. Temperature and diversity are two well-known
limiting conditions in biological systems, while also proving to be a comparative
advantage in technologies using bioprocesses. Researchers could include biopro-
specting, as a way of addressing these problems by seeking support for newdiscoveries
and technological enhancement for topics such as: (1) the treatment of liquid and solid
wastes using the potential of tropic biodiversity; (2) use of the advantages of solar
1.1 % 1.0 % 1.0 % 0.9 % 1.1 %
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Brazil
Mexico
Argentina
Chile
Colombia
Total number of publications
Contribution of each country
Total number of publications about environmental sciences
Percentage of publications dedicated to environmental sciences
Fig. 1 The bottom and middle bar reports the productivity of each countries as fractions of the total
number of publications and the total number of publication in environmental sciences, while the top bar
shows that the percentage, in superimposition, of publication in environmental sciences with respect to
the total of publication for each country is similar; search criteria: bioremediation OR environmental or
Biological treatment. (Source: SCOPUS, August 2014)
J. Sanabria
1 3
energy sources to coupling new disinfection and decontamination alternatives (3)
denition and development of new bioindicators for pollution; (4) study of emerging
microorganisms and their relationship with public health; (5) recovery and value of
waste, transforming it into clean energy and nutrients using technological clusters. An
example is shown in Fig. 2.
From Diversity to Microbial Adaptation
One of the advantages for innovation in tropics is biodiversity. Different studies
have clearly demonstrated that both, diversity of animals and plants, are greater at
lower latitudes. Despite the fact that there are only a few studies that allow the
comparison of an ecological index of prokaryotic diversity by regions in the planet,
it is not difcult to think of the tropic as a zone which equally favors this natural
microbial diversity therefore microbial metabolic processes in the tropics are
substantially higher in rate. The methods to estimate the prokaryotic diversity in
natural environments has experienced vast changes. The use of molecular and
uorescence techniques has led to changing the consideration of diversity assessed
with culture methods from hundreds of species at an estimated values of 10
29
(Christen 2008).
Fig. 2 Scheme of sugar cane industry waste valorization using solar energy and biotechnological
systems
Challenges and Opportunities in Latin America
1 3
The structural complexity of environments is important for speciation; likewise, it
is known that disturbances of natural environments favor the conditions for the
establishment of new species or metabolic adaptation (Martins et al. 2013). The
environmental engineer practice recommended the use of pre-adapted sludge to start
a new bioreactor and this practice has promoted for many years a separation of
organisms that probably generates speciation, certainly not yet explored and
potentially usefully for environmental solutions. Greater biological diversity
represents greater options of unexplored biochemical opportunities in the tropics
(Perez-Pelaez et al. 2011). In this sense, bio-prospecting studies being conducted in
extreme natural environments must be broadened to include contaminated environ-
ments and treatment systems but, above all, feedback must be provided with results
and requirements from the groups and sectors developing applied research. The step
from anticipation to application will require innovative strategies to culture the non-
culturable from natural or constructed environments (culture targeted-bioprospet-
ing). Although little information was found in literature regarding microorganism
culture methods from treatment systems, the recent anammox culture can be cited as
a good example of a mechanism that enriches bacteria without isolation as a pure
bacteria (Liao et al. 2007).
Challenges in Microbiology Applied to Environmental Solutions in Latin
America
Treatment Systems: Biotreatment/ex situ bioremediation are almost typical end-of-
pipe processes applied to remove, degrade, or detoxify pollution using different
process (biodegradation and bio-transformation, immobilization), systems are
reactors, open constructed wetlands, ponds, soil lters, land farming, composting
and biopiles, in which the decontaminating process takes place. Classical
bioremediation/in situ bioremediation involves treating the contaminated material
at the site, using processes like phytoremediation, bioventing, bioleaching, land
farming, bioaugmentation, rhizoltration, and bio stimulation. Biodegradation is
carried out by consortia of microorganisms. To be more efciently removed, the
pollutant must be the main electron donor or carbon source for the organisms
present. In ecological terms, we nd that bio-treatment systems are eutrophic
ecosystems. In such systems, the different trophic levels of living organisms are
established and affected by design conditions, especially the hydraulics (for liquid
and gaseous pollutants), chemical composition, solubility and quantity also play an
important role. Open bio-treatment systems will also be affected by environmental
conditions such as rain, temperature changes and wind. As a general rule, the
microbial groups that predominate in such systems are capable of naturally
adapting to these conditions. Hence the challenge for bio-technologists is to
accomplish high-performance microbial adaptations under these extreme conditions
and/or to give the microorganisms a better substrate without increasing treatment
costs, or to recover them through waste assessment. It seems that in such critical
conditions the best solution might be to use more than one piece of technology like
biorenery. Wastes valorisation to obtain added-value from controlled articial
J. Sanabria
1 3
systems by the production of enzymes and other metabolic by products founded in
these systems can mitigate the high cost of the technologies implied.
The dynamics of microbial ecology or microorganisms present in bio-remedi-
ation systems has not been broadly studied. We consider there are reasons for this,
other than the general reasons already mentioned, associated with the research
context which we highlight based on our experience:
Basic knowledge of biological processes and even a lack of knowledge of such
(black box) processes has allowed engineers in the region, until a fewyears ago, to
develop technologies capable of satisfying the demand of the established norms
(focused on chemical oxygen demand -COD) and because of the poor control and
exibility of environmental norms for treatment. Flexibility in regulations aimed
at controlling nutrients and micro pollutants released into wastewaters in Latin
America have been leading to an environmental deterioration.
There is a separation between the development of research in microbiology,
chemistry, and engineering, which are three of the most important areas in
environmental biotechnology. Also, there is the need to focus the science and
technology development to solve local and social problems in a interdisciplinary
manner. In other words, there has been serious work on collaborative and
interdisciplinary projects but in Latin America there is not such a culture of
cooperation; for instance, Brazil should lead cooperation between developing
countries nearby. Some groups address interdisciplinary collaboration through
bibliographic consultation but this is also limited, both by the restricted access to
data bases and by their limited mastery of English; both of which are still
privileges for only a few institutions and individuals in the region.
Many microbiological methods are expensive and wasteful in their routine use in
control and research of the so-called special pollutant biodegradability and the
technical capacity of laboratories does not respond to these new necessities.
Only recently some microbiological methods adapted for environmental
microbiology (epiuorescence and confocal microscopy, cytometry, genomic,
proteomic, micro-kinetics, biochemical markers, and adaptation of culture
methods, among others) were introduced into some countries in Latin America
therefore enabling the study and use of previously unknown microorganisms.
Furthermore, we must ask ourselves what are the appropriate analytical methods
that permit quantifying the microbiological activity in waste. The most
sophisticated methods do not always provide us with the most useful
information. For instance, knowing all the microbial species present in a
treatment system will not necessarily help us to determine which group is the
most representative for the process (Watanabe et al. 2002). Recently, molecular
methods that might be useful in studying diversity have been developed;
however, many of these methods are not quantitative for microbial activity and,
thus, yield scant information concerning the optimization of design and
operation of treatment systems, probably studying the proteins expressed in the
reactors could be most useful. We must wonder, when the study of diversity help
to improve a biological treatment system? In this sense the work about main
Challenges and Opportunities in Latin America
1 3
questions and answers must be done before the choice of molecular methods for
molecular studies.
Many approaches in biodegradation research considers the fact that pollutants
normally do not appear in pure form but as mixtures, under different concentrations, pH
conditions and temperature, and this has effects on microorganisms and their activities
(Oren et al. 2010), therefore the researchers community must propose strategies to:
1. Improve and develop alternative biological packages that combine biotechnol-
ogy with other treatment forms and advanced physical and chemical processes.
This implies a dialogue among disciplines like microbiology, biochemistry,
biotechnology, and engineering, which cannot be delegated.
2. Guide and place the results of bio-prospecting organisms with potential at the
service of environmental applications focused on real problems.
3. Study and model the biochemical behaviour of ecosystems with biotechnolog-
ical potential to develop innovative products that could be applied to the
solution of specic environmental problems.
4. Adapt ecological competence of microorganism consortia, to innovative culture
systems. The most recent studies to improve culture methods have revealed that
microbial associates are the key to the development of many microbial
populations (Vazquez et al. 2013). These new culture methods must consider
this association to improve pollution degradation.
5. Introduce an integral approach in what has been denominated as an analysis of
systems. This will be key for future progress on bio-remediation because in
environmental biotechnology, more than in any other branch of biotechnology,
the study of a separate species and technology may be insufcient to understand
the biodegradability and to propose an efcient process for the treatment of a
pollutant. An example we could cite to illustrate this point are the efforts made
by microbiologists to adapt and genetically transform microorganisms in order
to increase their capacity to biodegrade dyes and pesticides. Meanwhile,
research groups focusing not only on microorganisms but also on pollutants
have managed to develop technologies based on solar radiation, the ozone,
electro-chemistry, and chemical catalysts to convert complex pollutants into
simpler ones with higher a probability of biodegradation.
6. Develop reliable molecular and analytical diagnostic methods. Overcoming the
limitations of the compounds present in waste given that they often interfere in
the measurement and yield incorrect results.
Environmental Biotechnology Products
One of the relevant aspects of dening biotechnology is its relationship to obtain
goods or services suitable for being commercialized and generating prot.
Understanding biotechnology in a complex and in realistic terms implies tangible
and intangible investments. This applies to domestic as well as foreign imported
J. Sanabria
1 3
technologies and knowledge. Each country has to exert considerable absorptive
efforts to learn the tacit elements of biotechnology and gain adequate mastery.
By itself, conducting good environmental control implies investments without
apparent return for private and public companies. This fact has limited the
development of research because of the low interest to invest in caring for the
environment. The criteria of decreased costs and prot make it difcult to nd support
for environmental biotechnological products (Beekman 2004; Liguori et al. 2013).
This aspect has motivated organizations like the United Nations Environment
Program(UNEP 2010) to insist on the introduction of accounting factors associated to
environmental deterioration, encourage treatment processes and elimination of wastes
under safer conditions, and strengthen legislation to control pollution. It has been
calculated that contamination of coastal waters by sewage provokes 250 million cases
of gastroenteritis, the loss of millions of lives (mostly children under 5) throughout the
world, and an economic loss of 16 billion US dollars annually (UNEP 2010). Hence,
interest in the region is concentrated on the development of treatment systems with low
investment costs and, whenever possible with added economic value. Regarding
biotreatments, we consider that anaerobic systems offer the special advantage of
diminishing operation costs through the injection of oxygen and the disposition of
generated sludge, while methane, bio-hydrogen, and raw materials for other value
products are generated and new species are described. Also, the use of constructed
wetlands and ponds can favor the recovery of nutrients in the form of vegetable
biomass. One of the most promising advances in solid and liquid waste assessment is
the acquisition of second-generation biofuels (Lino and Ismail 2011). Although the
global tendency favors alcohols, we believe bio-hydrogen, methane, bio-diesel and
bio-polymers adjust best to local needs, environmental conditions, and to Latin
Americas research capacity (De Sa et al. 2013). As an other example we can cite the
recently discovery of Nitrogen xation in wastewater systems adapted to a large
amount of Anomia (Perez-Pelaez et al. 2011; Abramovich 2013). The availability of a
vast amount of information has placed in the foreground bioinformatics and in silico
research because of its potential to lower costs of experimentation.
Figure 3 shows a comparison of 10 of last years publications in the most
representative countries in Latin America regarding the biotechnological products
previously mentioned. The rst interesting aspect we found is that Brazilian
publications account for more than 50 % of the total in Latin America, followed by
Mexico and Argentina. Related with the topic of publication we found that, while
Brazil research emphasizes on biosensor, biopolymer and biofuel from wastes,
research in Mexico focuses on treating atmospheric pollutants and using bioltra-
tion, aerobic treatments and in situ bioremediation. Argentina reports an important
number of publications for biosensor research and coupling between advanced
oxidation processes and biological systems. Chile has focused their publications on
aspects concerning bio-ltration, advanced oxidation processes and aerobic
treatments. From the consulted countries Colombia and Venezuela report the
fewest of publications on environmental biotechnology topics consulted in this
study, (\7.3 and 2.8 % respectively). Colombia has emphasized its research on
constructed ponds and wetland, bio-insecticides, anaerobic treatment and the use of
advanced oxidation processes coupled with biological treatment. A combination of
Challenges and Opportunities in Latin America
1 3
anaerobic pre-treatment followed by photosynthetic post-treatment is proposed for
the effective recovery of energy and nutrients from sewage. Similar tendency to
those from Scopus database have been obtained using the Scielo database, and data
obtained from the World Bank report as shown in Table 1.
U
n
i
t
e
d

S
t
a
t
e
s

U
n
i
t
e
d

K
i
n
g
d
o
m

C
h
i
n
a

J
a
p
a
n

G
e
r
m
a
n
y

F
r
a
n
c
e

C
a
n
a
d
a

S
p
a
i
n

I
t
a
l
y

I
n
d
i
a

S
o
u
t
h

K
o
r
e
a

A
u
s
t
r
a
l
i
a

N
e
t
h
e
r
l
a
n
d
s

T
a
i
w
a
n

S
w
i
t
z
e
r
l
a
n
d

S
w
e
d
e
n

R
u
s
s
i
a
n

F
e
d
e
r
a
t
i
o
n

T
u
r
k
e
y

B
e
l
g
i
u
m

G
r
e
e
c
e

D
e
n
m
a
r
k

P
o
l
a
n
d

F
i
n
l
a
n
d

A
u
s
t
r
i
a

H
o
n
g

K
o
n
g

I
s
r
a
e
l

I
r
a
n

S
i
n
g
a
p
o
r
e

13 biopTment
12 BioFil-Gas
11 paoxcoupled
10 PondWetlad
9 insitu-B
8 advTment
7 aerTment
6 Sc-biofuel
5 Aopr.
4 anaTment
3 Nut-water
2 biopest.
1 biosensor
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
B
r
a
z
i
l

M
e
x
i
c
o

A
r
g
e
n
t
i
n
a

C
h
i
l
e

C
o
l
o
m
b
i
a

C
u
b
a

O
t
h
e
r
s

Latin America Others countries of the world
3%
3%
4%
7%
14%
22%
47%
Brazil
Mexico
Argentina
Chile
Colombia
Cuba
Others
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
1 biosensor
2 biopest
3 Nut-water
4 anaTment
5 paox
6 Sc-biofuel
7 aerTment
8 advTment
9 insitu-B
10 PondWetlad
11 paoxcoupled
12 BioFil-Gas
A B
C D
Fig. 3 a Comparative tendency of the publication in environmental biotechnology in Latino-America
and the rest of the world. b Comparative publication for Latino American countries in Latino-America
and the rest of the world. c Comparative publication in environmental areas between Latino American
countries.Search criteria of each area: 1 (biosensor); 2 (thuringiensis OR sphaericus OR metharizium OR
beauveria AND biopesticides); 3 (Treatment AND Nitrogen OR Phosphorus AND Water); 4 (anaerobic
AND wastewater AND treatment); 5 (waste AND treatment AND ethanol OR methane OR biohydrogen);
6 (aerobic AND wastewater AND treatment); 7 (electrocoagulation OR ozone OR photocatalysis); 8
(micropollutant OR cebiotic OR advanced treatment OR thertyary treatment AND Water). 9 (soil OR
river OR see AND bioremediation AND treatment) 10 (constructed ponds OR constructed wetland and
treatment); 11 (electrocoagulation OR ozone OR photocatalysis AND biological treatment); 12
(bioltration OR gas) 13 (biopolymer OR PHAs AND waste). Others (Venezuela, uruguay, Costa rica,
Ecuador, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Nicaraguas, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico). SCOPUS
J 2014
J. Sanabria
1 3
Educational and Training Challenges
One of the challenges is that it involves learning professional skills. Some reports on
biotechnology capabilities consider that the skills are learned in college. Some
countries Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina have increasing research and training
around biotechnology. However, there is currently a tendency to view learning
about problem solving takes place during the early years of school. This learning
has a greater impact than what you can learn in college. University should be the
space in which students polish such skills in the context of a particular problem. A
recent diagnosis in Chile demonstrated that the media and high school learning are
more responsible for development skills than universities in the future of
Table 1 Most recent value: science and technology indicators for Latin-American Countries
Country Total people
a
Total research
product
b
Total economical
products
c
% of GDP
d
Brazil 1,361 187,727 12,601.7 1.16
Mexico 623 118,464 42,027.5 0.4
Argentina 1,312 78,802 4,444 0.6
Chile 648 55,770 1,437.6 0.37
Colombia 161 31,645 1,022.3 0.16
Peru ND 26,038 532.2 ND
Paraguay 75 22,478 53.3 0.06
Venezuela, RB 183 21,539 453.5 ND
Ecuador 137 16,957 126.2 0.26
Costa Rica 334 14,866 2,642.8 0.54
Panama 117 11,886 4,858.4 0.19
Guatemala 56 9,528 286.4 0.06
Uruguay 520 7,235 118.8 0.43
Dominican Republic ND 6,459 163.2 ND
Cuba ND 2,509 ND 0.61
Honduras ND 2,258 52.3 ND
Haiti ND 1,956 8 ND
Bolivia 181 45 113.7 0.16
Nicaragua ND 12 12.3 ND
El Salvador ND 6 250.8 0.08
Puerto Rico 668 ND ND 0.49
Science and technology World Development Indicators 2013, THE WORLD BANK Last updated date
09/23/2013 (N) if data for the specied year or full period are not available
a
Researchers, Technicians Scientic and technical (full-time equivalent per million people) 200510
b
Journal articles Patent (Residents Nonresidents) applications led Trademark, applications led
Expenditures for R&D
c
High-technology exports, Charges for the use of intellectual property $ millions
d
% of GDP 200510
Challenges and Opportunities in Latin America
1 3
professionals. Additionally the latest report from the OECD PISA on the skills of
students aged 15 years, shows the critical situation in Caribbean countries in reading
and mathematics (OECD 2014). This report can also infer the relationship between
the quality of secondary education and development. Taking the example of China
and Korea, a notable policy in these countries is introducing massive programs to
improve the participation of professionals who can link between technical and
social, ecological and environmental contexts and English language skills. In
addition to these general considerations, we nd particular aspects to be considered.
The modernization of biochemistry teaching at all levels of scholarship is a priority.
The revisions of programs in the region suggest that the biochemical training in
environmental engineering, biology and bacteriology carrier is limited. Prevalent
subjects include biochemistry of sugars, lipids, proteins, heterotrophic aerobic
metabolism, due probably to the overwhelming inuence of medicine in teaching
biochemistry. New approaches for biochemical training must include, the link
between these biochemical conditions with others like litotrophic phenomena,
anaerobic metabolisms, Bioenergy, thermodynamics, microbial ecology, stoichi-
ometry and kinetic involved in it. The compulsory introduction of interdisciplinary
components in engineering and basic science programs is necessary. Nevertheless
only technical educations are not sufcient to build a new sustainable society.
Analyses and characterize critical environmental problems, put forward and execute
solution proposals for the identied environmental problems, do research and
teaching in multidisciplinary groups and manage a diverse discourse, is maybe the
most important educational challenge.
Table 1 shows the importance to invest in Research and Development (GDP
percentage), over the qualied personal in Science Technology and the scientic
products as well.
Conclusions
Despite differences in the historical development of science and technology in Latin
American countries. There has been an increase in spending on science technology
and training. Caring for the environment has been neglected in most countries due to
the apparent cost that entails. However, in the situation of the world environmental
crisis and wealth of biodiversity as well as the climate in most parts of Latin
America, we are located in a privileged site to develop ingenious and sustainable
alternatives in Environmental Biotechnology. To achieve this goal we need to be
aware of global progresses but propose our creative approaches, considering
different ways that have been so far shown promising, thereby breaking the linear
vision of basic scienceapplied scienceinnovation. Changing policies proposed
by the support of science and technology only in its advanced stages and recovering
the creative intuition from our childhood.
Acknowledgments To Dr Huub Hitzen from the UNESCO-IHE for important contributions to this
paper. And my colleagues of the engineering faculty by give me the opportunity of learning about
environmental engineering. The author thanks Luis Andres Betancourt and Julien Wist for their
invaluable contribution to graphical material.
J. Sanabria
1 3
References
Abramovich, R. S. (2013). Nitrogen xing potential in extreme environments. In School of biotechnology
and biomolecular sciences. University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia. p. 241.
Beekman, V. (2004). Environmental utilization space between science and politics. Journal of
Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 17, 293300.
Bota, A. A. (2003). El impacto de la biotecnolog a en America Latina: Espacios de participacion social.
Acta Bioethica, 9, 2138.
Christen, R. (2008). Global sequencing: A review of current molecular data and new methods available to
assess microbial diversity. Microbes and Environments, 23, 253268.
De Sa, L. R. V., Cammarota, M. C., De Oliveira, T. C., et al. (2013). Pentoses, hexoses and glycerin as
substrates for biohydrogen production: An approach for Brazilian biofuel integration. International
Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 38, 29862997.
Divakara, B. N., Upadhyaya, H. D., Wani, S. P., et al. (2010). Biology and genetic improvement of
Jatropha curcas L.: A review. Applied Energy, 87, 732742.
Dunlop, M. J., Dossani, Z. Y., & Szmidt, H. L. et al. (2011). Engineering microbial biofuel tolerance and
export using efux pumps. Molecular Systems Biology, 7(1). doi:10.1038/msb.2011.21.
Gavrilescu, M. (2010). Environmental biotechnology: Achievements, opportunities and challenges.
Dynamic Biochemistry, Process Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, 4, 136.
Ivanov, V., Wang, L. K., Ivanov, V. et al. (2010). Microbiology of environmental engineering systems. In
Environmental biotechnology. Handbook of environmental engineering. Humana Press, pp. 19-79-
79.
Leff, E. (2012). Pobreza, gestion participativa de los recursos naturales y desarrollo sustentable en las
comunidades rurales del Tercer Mundo. Una vision desde America Latina. Problemas del
Desarrollo, 26, 223240.
Li, T., Guo, S., Wu, B. et al. (2014). Effect of polarity-reversal and electrical intensity on the oil removal
from soil. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology. doi:10.1002/jctb.4312.
Liao, D., Li, X., Yang, Q., et al. (2007). Enrichment and granulation of Anammox biomass started up with
methanogenic granular sludge. World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology, 23, 10151020.
Liguori, R., Amore, A., & Faraco, V. (2013). Waste valorization by biotechnological conversion into
added value products. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 97, 61296147.
Lino, F. A. M., & Ismail, K. A. R. (2011). Energy and environmental potential of solid waste in Brazil.
Energy Policy, 39, 34963502.
Marousek, J., Itoh, S., Higa, O., et al. (2013a). Enzymatic hydrolysis enhanced by pressure shockwaves
opening new possibilities in Jatropha Curcas L. processing. Journal of Chemical Technology and
Biotechnology, 88, 16501653.
Marousek, J., Kondo, Y., Ueno, M., et al. (2013b). Commercial-scale utilization of greenhouse residues.
Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry, 60, 253258.
Martins, L. F., Antunes, L. P., Pascon, R. C., et al. (2013). Correction: Metagenomic analysis of a tropical
composting operation at the Sao Paulo Zoo Park reveals diversity of biomass degradation functions
and organisms. PLoS ONE, 8, 113.
Ministerio de Ambiente VyDT-M (2010). Pol tica Nacional para la Gestion Integral del Recurso
H drico. Bogota, D.C. Colombia. Ministerio de Ambiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial-
MAVDT. p. 124.
Mora, L. E., Colina, J., & Moncayo-Lasso, A. et al. (2005). Development of coupled solar biological
system for the disinfection and elimination of organic contaminants in drinking water in rural areas
of Colombia. In CINARA (ed) De la accion local a las metas globales. CINARA, Cali Colombia.
pp. 18.
OECD (2014). PISA 2012 Results: What students know and can do: Student performance in mathematics,
Reading and Science (Volume I), http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyndings/pisa-2012-results-volume-i.
htm access 30 mars 2014.
Oren, A., Wang, L. K., Ivanov, V. et al. (2010). Microbial metabolism: Importance for environmental
biotechnology. In Environmental biotechnology. Handbook of environmental engineering. Humana
Press, pp. 193-255-255.
Patterson, J. (2012). Exploitation of unconventional fossil fuels: Enhanced greenhouse gas emissions. In
Liu, G. (Ed.)Greenhouse gasesemission, measurement and management.. InTech. pp. 147168.
Challenges and Opportunities in Latin America
1 3
Perez-Pelaez, N., Pena-Varon, M., & Sanabria, J. (2011). Comunidades bacterianas involucradas en el
ciclo del nitrogeno en humedales construidos. Revista Ingenier a y Competitividad, 13, 1117.
Ramamurthy, T., Bhattacharya, S. K., Delgado, G. et al. (2011). The re-emergence of Cholera in the
Americas. In Epidemiological and molecular aspects on cholera. Infectious disease. New York:
Springer pp. 79-95-95.
Roca, W. (2003). Estudio de las capacidades biotecnologicas e institucionales para el aprovechamiento de
la biodiversidad en los paises de la comunidad Andina, Peru. pp. 285.
Sanabria, J., Acevedo, D., Morales, M., et al. (2010). Improvement of methane production using photo-
Fenton as pretreatment of vinasses. Manizales, Colombia: Congreso Iberoameicano de
Biotecnolog a.
UNEP (2010). Annual Report 2009: Seizing the green economy UNEP.
Vazquez, S., Nogales, B., Ruberto, L., et al. (2013). Characterization of bacterial consortia from diesel-
contaminated Antarctic soils: Towards the design of tailored formulas for bioaugmentation.
International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, 77, 2230.
Voget-Kleschin, L. (2013). Large-scale land acquisition: Evaluating its environmental aspects against the
background of strong sustainability. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 26, 11051126.
Watanabe, K., Futamata, H., & Harayama, S. (2002). Understanding the diversity in catabolic potential of
microorganisms for the development of bioremediation strategies. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 81,
655663.
World Bank (2014). Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) http://data.worldbank.org/
indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS/countries access 30 mars 2014.
J. Sanabria
1 3