Foul air, murky water, dusty and greasy landscapes seem to be the price we must pay for improving standards of living. The suffocating scent of sewage, mixed with the odours of chemical wastes from factories; high levels of lead pollution from vehicular exhaust fumes; polluted rivers; and denuded hills of the Northern Range, decimated by slash and burn, forest fires, and other forms of deforestation, seem to seal that fate.

Island societies such as ours need to make the best use of their limited and diminishing natural resources to feed, clothe and house their peoples, instead of depleting them. Biotechnology can help in the restoration and bioremediation of our environment thereby protecting and conserving our natural resources.

Restoration

Slash and burn practices, quarrying and mining leave areas of the landscape denuded of vegetation and result in flooding and a loss of biodiversity. Any good mining plan should state the methods to be used in the restoration of the area after operations cease. Plant species in an area to be mined could be preserved, if prior to the start of operations, species that are likely to be lost are collected, multiplied through tissue culture, and kept conserved in culture until needed in replanting exercises.

In addition, tissue cultured plants could be used for the rapid reforestation of areas denuded by fire. In instances where there has been a natural disaster leading to a change in the environmental conditions from those that pertained prior to the event, plants can be genetically modified to withstand the new conditions.

Bioremediation

Every year industries and factories release large amounts of toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes into the environment. Many chemicals stay in the environment and cause soil and water pollution. Pollutants move from the soil into the groundwater and become a problem in areas where groundwater is directly used for drinking without treatment. Scientists have found that soil microorganisms can degrade deadly chemicals that leach into the soil from spills - a process known as bioremediation. For centuries, bioremediation has acted as a vital buffer between people, pollution and the environment. It involves the processes of nature at work to break down polluting substances without human intervention. Genes from microorganisms capable of degradation can be inserted into the genes of harmless bacteria, enabling them to clean up wastes of one sort or another. This saves the groundwater supply and the soil from permanent contamination. The World Commission on Water for the 21st Century recommends harnessing the tools of bioremediation to strengthen water security.

How Bioremediation Helps

Oil spills
In Trinidad and Tobago there is the ever-present threat of oil spills both on land and at sea. Complex pollutants are generated by the petrochemical industry. Scientists have found that certain microorganisms feed on the chemicals in petroleum. These have become useful in cleaning up oil spills. They have also been used for flushing out and cleaning oil wells and equipment used by the petroleum industry.

Industrial waste
Factories place stress on the evironment through pollution. The main components of this pollution are fuels, chemicals and metals. Microorganisms can be used to break down these substances. They can also help to break down the poisons in lead residues that seep from gasoline and exhaust fumes into the environment. New techniques also involve injecting air into contaminated areas to help make the substances biodegradable.

Agricultural wastes
Microorganisms can also be used to break down pesticide and herbicide residues to make them less noxious before they enter the soil and groundwater.

Although bioremediation holds great promise for dealing with environmental problems, much of this promise has yet to be realized. Much more needs to be learned about how microorganisms interact with different environments, but the potential of bioremediation is endless. Scientists are already exploring ways in which microorganisms can be used to break down the toxicity of deadly radiation in nuclear waste.

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