Environmental Biotechnology : Reducing Risks from Environmental Chemicals through Biotechnology

Gilbert S. Omenn Dean, School of Public Health and Community Medicine University of Washington Seattle, Washington 98195 On behalf of the University of Washington , the City of Seattle, the Steering Committee, and the sponsoring agencies, corporations, and organ­ izations, I welcome you. \Ve all expect this Conference to stimulate further what is becoming an important application of biotechnology in an area in which our society experiences considerable frustration and gloom: the management of hazardous wastes. It is an all-too-frequent refrain that technology has its benefits and its risks. To many--in the lay pUblic, at least--the damaging notion has taken hold that we are capable of creating problems but are less capable of finding solutions. Chemical streams from industry, agriculture, municipal operations, and household operations have contaminated groundwater, drinking water, and soils, and have undermined the productivity of agri­ culture and the quality of life. In the meantime, however, we have im­ proved our quality of life in immeasurable ways through some related developments. The challenge is to continue the enhancements while modifying or preventing the damage.

Microbial Ecology.- The Ecology of an Anaerobic Dechlorinating Consortium.- Performance of Biodegradative Microorganisms in Soil: Xenobiotic Chemicals as Unexploited Metabolic Niches.- Tracking Microorganisms and Genes in the Environment.- Relevant Advances in Molecular Biology.- Prospects for Laboratory Engineering of Bacteria to Degrade Pollutants.- Constructing Microbial Strains for Degradation of Halogenated Aromatic Hydrocarbons.- Stable Inheritance of Bacterial Plasmids: Practical Considerations in the Release of Organisms into the Environment.- Biotransformations of Mercury Compounds.- Minimizing Risks of Release of Microorganisms into the Environment.- Using Knowledge of Virulence Factors to Select or Design Organisms with Low Risk of Pathogenicity.- Applications to Chemical and Environmental Targets, Combining Microbial and Engineering Approaches.- Bioengineering Issues Related to in Situ Remediation of Contaminated Soils and Groundwater.- Bioremediation of Chemical Spills.- Microbiological Cleanup of Groundwater Contaminated by Pentachlorophenol.- Remediation of Multimedia Contamination from the Wood-Preserving Industry.- Preliminary Development of a Bench-Scale Treatment System for Aerobic Degradation of Trichloroethylene.- Biodegradation of Hydrocarbons in the Environment.- Discussion.- Complex Industrial Waste Sites.- Biological Approaches for Polychlorinated Biphenyl Degradation.- Exploitation of the High Affinity and Specificity of Proteins in Waste Stream Treatment.- Bioprocessing of Coal.- Anaerobic Fluidized-Bed Treatment of Hazardous Wastes.- Environmental Concerns Associated with the Design of Genetic Engineering Facilities.- The Role of Biotechnology in Pollution Control and the Role of Genetic Engineering in such Biotechnology Applications.- Assessment, Communication, and Management of Environmental Risks.- Balancing Regulatory Control, Scientific Knowledge, and Public Understanding.- Environmental Pollution Policies in Light of Biotechnological Assessment: Organisation for Economic Cooperation, United Kingdom, and European Economic Council Perspectives.- Environmental Protection Agency Actions to Stimulate Use of Biotechnology for Pollution Control and Cleanup.- Commentary: Some Issues in Biodegradation.- Corporate Panel.- Users and Providers of the New Technologies.- Public Participation.- Public Participation.- Superfund Strategies and Technologies: A Role for Biotechnology.- Concluding Remarks.- Concluding Remarks.- Poster Abstracts (Alphabetical).- 4-Chlorobenzoate Metabolism by Acinetobacter SP. 4-CB 1 and Its Relevance to Biodegradation of 4,4?-Dichlorobiphenyl.- Analysis of the Promoter for the Pseudomonas Putida catBC Operon.- Two Joint Office of Research and Development/Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response Projects.- Modeling the Growth Kinetics and Substrate Utilization of a TCE-Degrading Microorganism.- A Shuttle System for the Rapid Introduction of Tracking and other Genes into the Chromosomes of Soil Bacteria.- The Molecular Microbial Ecology of a Catabolic Genotype in a Biological Treatment Process.- Pilot-Scale Biological Treatment of Contaminated Groundwater at an Abandoned Wood Treatment Plant.- Cloning and Sequencing of pseudomonas Genes Involved in the Demethylation of the Lignin Degradation Derivative, Vanillate.- A Novel Method to Detect Genetically Altered Microorganisms in the Environment.- Successful Microbial Remediations of Large-Scale Hazardous Waste Problems, Soils, and Waste Site Leachate.- Biodegradation of the Herbicide Alachlor in Liquid Culture and a Soil Slurry.- Microbial Volatilization of Selenium from Soils.- Transformation and Mineralization of Aroclor 1254.- Microbial Degradation of Chlorinated Unsaturated Fatty Acids.- Anaerobic Biodegradation Capabilities of Freshwater Lake Sediments: Influence of Temperature and Sulfate Concentration on the Degradation of 2,4-Dichlorophenol.- A New Method for Bacterial Strain Construction in Biodegradation of Xenobiotic Compounds.- The Organofluorophosphate Hydrolases of Tetrahymena thermophila and Rangia cuneata.- Fluidity of Plasmid DNA Fragments Involved in Biodegradation of Aromatic Hydrocarbons by pseudomonas putida Strain R5-3.- Biological Treatment of Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Waste Lagoons.- Enhanced Biological Removal of Toluene from Aqueous Systems.- On-Site Biological Treatment of Creosote-Contaminated Soils.- Risk Assessment of Application of Biodegradative Microorganisms for Hazardous Waste Destruction.- Anaerobic Treatment of Waste Streams from the Organic Chemicals Industry.- Biological Treatment for Soils Contaminated with Polychlorinated Biphenyls.- Degradation of Substituted Phenols by Immobilized Bacteria.- Metabolic Conversion of Lindane to Chlorophenols, Hydrophobic Acids, and More Hydrophilic Products by Streptomyces PSI.- Respirometric Study of Microbial Degradation of Phenol.- Field Demonstration of the Effectiveness of Land Application for the Treatment of Creosote-Contaminated Wastes.- The Land Treatability of Petroleum Refinery Waste Constituents.- Use of Catabolic Mutants of Pseudomonas Cepacia AC1100 to Isolate Genetic Elements Responsible for 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid Degradation.- Biological Treatment of Organic Contaminants Using Submerged Fixed-Film Reactors.- Monoclonal Antibodies for Detection of Environmental Contamination: An Immunoassay for Dioxin.- Modeling the Methane and Toxic-Degradation Kinetics of Methane-Oxidizing Biofilm Reactors.- Two-Stage Degradation of Parathion by Flavobacterium Sp. and Pseudomonas Sp..- Bacterial Degradation of Chlorinated Biphenyls.- The Yeast CUP1 Gene: A Model for Biological Detoxification of Heavy Metal Effluents.- Degradation of Nitroguanidine Wastewater Components.