c / 7 . 5 — The Chemical Industry • 95 
tpria associated uitli theii' roots. C'liiTently, mi- 
crobial production ot ammonia from nitrogen is 
not economically t'ompetiti\ e. .Aside t'rom the 
dif'ticulties associated uitli the enzMiie’s sen- 
sitivity to owgen and the neai' total lack of 
understanding of its mechanism, it takes the 
e(|ui\ alent ot the energv in 4 kilograms (kg) of 
sugar to make f kg of ammonia. Since ammonia 
costs SO. 14 kg and sugar costs SO. 22 kg, it is un- 
likeK that the chemical [)rocess \\ ill t)e replaced 
in the near future. On the othei’ hand, the genes 
tor nitrogen fixation ha\ e now t)('en transferred 
into veast, opening up tlu* possil)ilit\ that agi'i- 
cultui'ally useful niti'ogen can t)c made hv fer- 
mentation. 
A large segment of tlie chemical industry en- 
gaged in the manufacture of polymei s is shown 
in table 13. A total of 4.3 million tonnes of 
fibers, 12 million tonnes of plastics, and 1.1 mil- 
lion tonnes of synthetic i'ul)t)er wei'e produced 
in the I'nited States in 1078. All were derived 
from petroleum, vv ith the e\ce[)tion of the less 
than 1 [lercent dei'ived from cellulose fibers. 
The most likely ones are polyamides (chemically 
related to proteins), acrylics, isoprene-type rub- 
ber, and polystyrene. Because most monomers, 
the building blocks of polymers, are chemicallv 
simple and are presently available in high yield 
from petroleum, their microbial production in 
the next decade is unlikelv . 
W hile hiotechnologv is not ready to replace 
the present technologv, its ev entual impact on 
polvmer production will probably he large. 
Biopolvmers represent a new way of thinking. 
Most of the important constituents of cells are 
polymers: proteins (polypeptides from amino 
acid monomers), polvsaccharides (from sugar 
monomers), and polvnucleotides (from nucleo- 
tide monomers). Since cells normally assemble 
polymers vv ith extreme specificity, the ideal in- 
dustrial process would imitate the biological 
production of polymers in all possible respects— 
using a single biological machine to convert a 
raw' material, e.g., a sugar, into the monomer to 
polymerize it, then to form the final product. A 
more likely application is the development of 
new monomers for specialized applications. 
Polymer chemistry has largely consisted of the 
study of how their properties can be modified. 
Table 13.— The Potential of Some Major Polymeric 
Materials for Production Using Biotechnology 
Product 
Domestic production 1978 
(thousand tonnes) 
Plastics 
Thermosetting resins 
Epoxy 
135 
Polyester 
544 
Urea 
504 
Melamine 
90 
Phenolic 
727 
Thermoplastic resins 
Polyethylene 
Low density 
3,200 
High density 
1,890 
Polypropylene 
1 ,380 
Polystyrene 
2,680 
Polyamide, nylon type . . . 
124 
Polyvinyl alcohol 
57 
Polyvinyl chloride 
2,575 
Other vinyl resins 
88 
Fibers 
Cellulosic fibers 
Acetate 
139 
Rayon 
269 
Noncellulosic fibers 
Acrylic 
327 
Nylon 
1,148 
Olefins 
311 
Polyester 
1,710 
Textile glass 
418 
Other 
7 
Rubbers 
Styrene-butadiene 
628 
Polybutadiene 
170 
Butyl 
69 
Nitrile 
33 
Polychlorophene 
72 
Ethylene-propylene 
78 
Polyisoprene 
62 
SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment. 
Conceivably, biotechnology could enable the 
modification of their function and form. 
Pesticides include fungicides, herbicides, in- 
secticides, rodenticides, and related products 
such as plant growth regulators, seed disinfec- 
tants, soil conditioners, and soil fumigants. The 
largest market (roughly $500 million annually) 
involves the chemical and microbial control of 
insects. Although microbial insecticides have 
been around for years, they comprise only 5 
percent of the market. However, recent suc- 
cesses in developing viruses and bacteria that 
produce diseases in insects, and the negative 
publicity given to chemical insecticides, have 
encouraged the use of microbial insecticides. 
