Microorganisms at the core of biotechnology

Microorganisms are microscopic, ubiquitous living beings that make up the Earth's largest biomass. They are thought to have appeared around 3.8 billion years ago, and their discovery, which benefited from advances in optics, dates back to the 17th century.

Above all, they are essential to the balance of the biosphere, participating in nature's basic cycles, but they can also be harmful. They are also widely used in the production of goods and services in the context of biotechnologies.

It was with the production of fermented foods that the empirical use of micro-organisms for food preservation heralded the birth of biotechnology back in Neolithic times. Since then, advances in microbiology initiated in the 19th century by Louis Pasteur in France, as well as major advances in genetics and other fields of biology, have contributed to the emergence and development of modern biotechnologies. Today, although the question of what constitutes biotechnology remains open, the term refers to technologies that exploit cellular or molecular processes through genetic engineering.

In addition, biotechnologies, whether traditional (fermentation, enzyme engineering, strain selection, etc.) or new-generation (genetic engineering, nanotechnologies, genomics, proteomics), are increasingly being integrated into industrial processes for transforming materials, synthesizing and controlling new products.

It is against this backdrop that this article provides an overview of the use of micro-organisms in the biotechnology sector. After presenting the main characteristics of micro-organisms and biotechnologies, and highlighting points for further thought or research by the reader, we will look at biotechnologies in their fields of application, i.e. health, food, agriculture and the environment, before concluding by opening up the debate.