Congyu Zhang, Kuifeng Hao, Wei-Hsin Chen, Jakub Čespiva, Jiří Ryšavý, Ying Zhang
{"title":"Towards gene editing and torrefaction pretreatment for biochar functionalization.","authors":"Congyu Zhang, Kuifeng Hao, Wei-Hsin Chen, Jakub Čespiva, Jiří Ryšavý, Ying Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.tibtech.2025.07.030","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The global demand for sustainable materials and carbon-neutral technologies drives innovations in biochar, a carbon-rich material for energy storage, pollution mitigation, and carbon sequestration. Conventional biochar, limited by poor conductivity and porosity, relies on fossil fuel-dependent activation. Recent advances in gene-editing technologies enable the precise reduction of lignin and enhance cellulose in woody biomass, improving its processability for biochar production. Furthermore, coupled with two-stage torrefaction-pyrolysis technology, biochar achieves tailored functionality - greater porosity and conductivity. This synergy between biotechnology and thermochemical engineering enables the transition of lab-scale breakthroughs to industrial applications, despite challenges to scaling, regulation, and public acceptance. This opinion highlights how merging genetic precision with green engineering can create high-value materials and advance circular bioeconomy and global decarbonization.</p>","PeriodicalId":23324,"journal":{"name":"Trends in biotechnology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Trends in biotechnology","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2025.07.030","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The global demand for sustainable materials and carbon-neutral technologies drives innovations in biochar, a carbon-rich material for energy storage, pollution mitigation, and carbon sequestration. Conventional biochar, limited by poor conductivity and porosity, relies on fossil fuel-dependent activation. Recent advances in gene-editing technologies enable the precise reduction of lignin and enhance cellulose in woody biomass, improving its processability for biochar production. Furthermore, coupled with two-stage torrefaction-pyrolysis technology, biochar achieves tailored functionality - greater porosity and conductivity. This synergy between biotechnology and thermochemical engineering enables the transition of lab-scale breakthroughs to industrial applications, despite challenges to scaling, regulation, and public acceptance. This opinion highlights how merging genetic precision with green engineering can create high-value materials and advance circular bioeconomy and global decarbonization.
期刊介绍：
Trends in Biotechnology publishes reviews and perspectives on the applied biological sciences, focusing on useful science applied to, derived from, or inspired by living systems.
The major themes that TIBTECH is interested in include:
Bioprocessing (biochemical engineering, applied enzymology, industrial biotechnology, biofuels, metabolic engineering)
Omics (genome editing, single-cell technologies, bioinformatics, synthetic biology)
Materials and devices (bionanotechnology, biomaterials, diagnostics/imaging/detection, soft robotics, biosensors/bioelectronics)
Therapeutics (biofabrication, stem cells, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, antibodies and other protein drugs, drug delivery)
Agroenvironment (environmental engineering, bioremediation, genetically modified crops, sustainable development).
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
