Read the article published by the newspaper "Kathimerini" and the detailed report by professor of Molecular Biology (Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, University of Thessaly) and research coordinator of OMIC-Engine, Konstantinos Mathiopoulos.
Bioeconomy is a relatively new discipline that sprung from therealization of (1) the
continuous environmental destruction mediated by the increased economic
development, based on polluting fossil fuels, (2) thetendency of establishing
sustainable development strategies based on environmentally friendly sources of
energy, (3) the enormous contribution of biosciences, and especially biotechnology, in
sustainable development. In general terms, Bioeconomy refers to the use of renewable
biological resources from terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to produce
products, processes and services covering all sections of industry and trade, in the
context of a sustainable, circular economic system. Consequently, bioeconomy
policies are strongly related to innovation, sustainability as well as economic
development and employment.
Until today, more than 60 countries worldwide have developed formal strategies and
roadmaps to promote their bioeconomy. Different countries specify their strategies
according to three key points: (a) the corresponding resource availability (e.g.,
availability of agricultural land), (b) historically pioneering roles in specific fields of
research and technology (e.g., biotechnology) (c) country-specific needs as well as
priorities they choose to serve.
Technologically advanced countries, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, China and others, recognize synthetic biology as one of the "eight major technologies" of the future, making it a key driver of bioeconomy development.
Read the rest of the article in Kathimerini (Greek) and get access to the detailed report on the role of synthetic biology in the roadmap of bioeconomy (Greek), here.