122 • Impacts of Applied Genetics— Micro-Organisms, Plants, and Animals 
EOR AND GENETIC ENGINEERING 
The current research approach, funded by 
the Department of Energy (DOE) and, independ- 
ently, by various oil companies, is a two-phase 
process. The first phase is to find a micro- 
organism that can function in an oil reservoir 
environment with as many of the necessary 
characteristics as possible. The second is to alter 
it genetically to enhance its overall capability. 
The genetic alteration of micro-organisms to 
produce chemicals used in EOR has been more 
successful than the alteration of those that may 
be used in situ.* However, recombinant DNA 
(rDNA) technology has not been applied in ei- 
ther category. All efforts have employed artifi- 
cially induced or naturally occurring mutations. 
CONSTRAINTS TO APPLYING GENETIC 
ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES IN EOR 
The genetic data base for micro-organisms 
that produce useful polysaccharides is weak. 
Few genetic studies have been done. Hence, the- 
oretically plausible approaches such as transfer- 
ring enzyme-coding plasmids (see ch. 2) for 
polysaccharide synthesis, cannot be seriously 
contemplated at present. Only the crudest 
methods of genetic selection for desirable prop- 
erties have been used thus far. They remain the 
only avenue for improvement until more is 
learned about the micro-organism’s genetic 
mechanisms. 
The biochemical data base for the character- 
istics of both the micro-organisms and their 
products is also lacking. The wide potential for 
chemical reactions carried out by microbes re- 
mains to be explored. At the same time, a sys- 
tem must be devised to allow easy characteriza- 
tion, classification, and comparison of products 
derived from a variety of micro-organisms. 
The physical data base for oil reservoirs is 
limited. The uniqueness of each reservoir sug- 
gests that no universal micro-organism or meth- 
od of oil recovery will be found. Compounding 
’Some of the goals have been to: improve polymer properties to 
enhance their commercial applicability; improve polymer produc- 
tion (a major mistake has been to reject a micro-organism in the 
initial screening because its level of production was too low); im- 
prove culture characteristics, e.g., resistance to phage, rapid 
growth, ability to use cheaper raw materials; and eliminate en- 
zymes that naturally degrade the polymers. 
this problem is the lack of sufficient physical, 
chemical, and biological information about the 
reservoirs, without which it is difficult to see 
how a rational genetic scheme can be con- 
structed for strains. Clearly, the activities of 
micro-organisms under specified field condi- 
tions cannot be studied unless researchers 
know what the appropriate conditions are. 
Three institutional obstacles exist. First, publi- 
cation in this field is limited because most re- 
search is carried out in the commercial world 
and remains largely confidential. Second, nei- 
ther the private nor the public sector has been 
enthusiastic about the potential role of micro- 
organisms in EOR. The biological apjtroach has 
only recently been given consideration as a way 
to advance the state of the art of the technology, 
and most oil companies still ha\ e limited staffs 
in microbiology. To date, DOE’s Division of 
Fossil Fuel Extraction has conducted the main 
Federal effort. Third, any effoi't to use micro- 
organisms must he multidisciplinary in nature. 
Geologists, microbiologists (incliuling mici'ohial 
physiologists and geneticists), chemists, and 
engineers must interact to evoke successful 
schemes of oil recovei'v. 'Fhus far, such t(>ams 
do not exist. 
Environmental and legal concerns have also in- 
hibited progress. Microbial EOK methods usual- 
ly require significant (juantities of fresh wat(>r 
and thus may compete with municipal and agri- 
cultural uses. Furthermore, the use of micro- 
organisms introduces concerns for safety. .All 
strains of Xanthomonas, which produce .xanthan 
gum polymer, are plant pathogens Other 
micro-organisms with potential, such as Scleroti- 
um rolfii and various species of Aureobasidium 
have been associated with lung disease and 
wound infections, respectively. 
Immediate environmental and legal concerns, 
therefore, arise from the |)otential risks .issoci- 
ated with the release of micro-organisms into 
the environment. When th(*v naturallv c.uisi* 
disease or environmental disru|)tion. tln’ir use is 
clearly limited. And wIkmi they do not genetic 
engineering raises the possibility that they 
might. Sucli concerns have ri*duced the jiriv.ite 
sector’s enthusiasm for attempting genetic 
