Ch. 7 — The Use of Genetically Engineered Micro-Organisms in the Environment • 125 
pounils of bac teria is unlikely to ha\ e any effect, 
rhus far. the Km ironmental Pi otection .Agency 
(KI’.A) lias not reconimendetl adding bacteria to 
municipal sNstems: bo\ve\ei‘, KI’.A suggests that 
tbe\ might be useful in smaller installations and 
foi’ specific problems in lai'ge systems. 
l)iy foi'mulations are available for use in 
cleaning drains and pipes in smaller installa- 
tions. such as restaurants and other food proc- 
essing facilities. In restaui'ants. the bacteria are 
added to the drain at the end of the workday. 
Bacteria have been selected foi- their inability to 
produc'e bydi’ogen sulfide, which means that 
the degrading process does not produce the un- 
pleasant odors fiecjuently encountered in the 
digestion of oils and fats.® 
As of N'ovembei' 1979, the pollution control 
industrv had few plans for the genetic manipu- 
lation of bacteria, e.xcept for the selection of 
naturally occurring better [)erformers. Clon- 
sumer resistance to mutants” is a factor that 
discourages the move to microbial genetics. 
Probably even more important is the high cost 
of establishing and maintaining microbial genet- 
ics lalmratories. It has been estimated that the 
cost of carrying a single Ph. D. microbial geneti- 
cist is over $100,000 annually.' This e.xpense is 
quite high relative to the $2 million to $4 million 
sales of all biological pollution control com- 
panies in 1978.® 
Resistance to the use of genetically manip- 
ulated bacteria is not universal. Many industrial 
wastes are o.xidized to nontoxic chemicals by 
biological treatment in aerated lagoons. The 
process depends on the presence of microbes in 
the lagoons: over time, those that grow best on 
the wastes come to dominate the microbial pop- 
ulations. Three companies now sell bacteria 
that they claim outperform the indigenous 
strains found in the lagoons. E.g., the Polybac 
‘.Anon.. "Clean That Sewage System VV ith Bugsl " Environmental 
. Science and Technology 13:1198-1199. 1979 
'.Anon.. " Biotechnology DN.A Research E.\penditures in L'.S. May 
i Reach S500 .Million in 1980. W ith About S 150-200 Million for Coni- 
I mercial Products. " Hill told. Drug Research Reports, " The Blue 
i Sheet Vlay 28 1980 p. 22. 
‘Anon.. Business Week. July 5. 1976. p. 280: Chemical Week 
I 121:47, 1977: and Food Engineering 49:138. 1977, cited in T. Gass- 
>ner. "Microorganisms for Waste Treatment, " Microbial Technol- 
: ogy, 2 ed.. vol. II. (London: .Academic Press, 1979), pp. 211-222. 
Corp. has sold its products to all seven Exxon 
biological waste treatment plants to treat chem- 
ical wastes. One of its formulations has been 
used to degrade toxic dioxins from an herbicide 
spill. One month’s treatment with the bacterial 
formulation reduced the orthochlorophenol 
concentration from 600 to 25 ppm in a 20,000- 
gal lagoon.® 
Syhroiv'Biochemical, a division of Sybron 
C!orp., sells cultures of bacteria that are in- 
tended to aid in the biological oxidation of in- 
dusti'ial wastewater; this company also lists 20 
different cultures for application to specific 
wastes. Patent number 4,199,444 was granted 
on .April 22, 1980, for a process involving the 
use of a mutant bacterial culture to decolor 
waste water produced in Kraft paper process- 
ing."’ Other patents are pending on a mixture of 
two strains that degrade grease and a strain that 
degrades "nonhiodegradable” detergents.” 
There is disagreement about the value of add- 
ing microbes to decontaminate soils or waters. 
One point of view argues that serious spills fre- 
quently sterilize soils, and that adding microbes 
is necessary for any biodegradation. The other 
contends that encouraging indigenous microbes 
is more likely to succeed because they are ac- 
climated to the spill environment. Added bac- 
teria have a difficult time competing with the 
already-present microbial flora. In the case of 
marine spills, bacteria, yeast, and fungi already 
present in the water participate in degradation, 
no one has been able to demonstrate the useful- 
ness of added microbes. 
Commercial applications — market size 
and prospects 
The estimated market size of pollution-con- 
trol biological products in 1978 was $2 million to 
S4 million, divided among some 20 companies, 
‘See footnote 6. 
“L. Davis. J. E. Blair, and C. VV. Randall, "Communication: 
Development of Color Removal Potential in Organisms Treating 
Pulp and Paper VV'astevvater," J. Water Pollution Control Fed., Feb- 
ruary 1978, pp. 382-385. 
"P. Spraher and N'. Tekeocgak, "'Foam Control and Degradation 
of Nonionic Detergent," Industrial Wastes, January/February 1980: 
L, David, J. E. Blair, and C. Randall, "Mixed Bacterial Cultures Leak 
'Non-Biodegradable' Detergent," Industrial Wastes, May/June 
1979. 
