In Germany BASF is also evidence of dynamism

After failing the shift of pharmaceutical and agricultural biotechnology, will the France ignore the white biotech revolution, those for the industry Program biohub, that the Agency for industrial innovation (AII, "Les Echos" of May 4, 2006) has launched on the starch, certainly brings a glimmer of hope to French researchers. "This could create a display effect," hope Pierre Monsan, expert at the Insa Toulouse. The momentum for biofuels by the current Government for a few months also encourages optimism.

So far, foreign examples show that the academic and industrial research French is trolling. In Germany, in the countries of North America, large companies investing heavily in the field of chemistry, energy or materials. The issue is simply transform petrochemical in biochemistry, from fossil source of carbon molecules without greenhouse and a sustainable plant source. Like biofuels research efforts, the agrochemical sector hopes to dethrone oil tankers to provide synthons from basic to very varied sectors, such as cosméticiens, producers of plastics, solvents, paints, etc.

The United States are mobilizing to shots of hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce their dependence on oil. In the Brazil, the massive exploitation of sugar cane is lead to a real biochemistry of ethylene, a major molecule in the industry. The Canada became the pioneer of the biorefinery concept. In Italy, Novamont markets long polymer containing 50 starch, Mater-bi. The Netherlands is DSM leads the ball. In Germany, BASF is also evidence of dynamism.

And advances occur. The American Dupont starts this year from textile fibres of the corn production plant. This polymer is produced chemically from the monomer 1.3 propanediol, itself obtained by transgenic bacteria designed via biotechnology. This scientific achievement was to transfer the genes that produce the enzymes for the production of the monomer in an easy to grow organization in industrial conditions.

Another technology of bioplastics made a remarkable breakthrough: the PLA from the fermentation of starch. Originally intended for medical applications, these polylactic polyesters are today available in films, molded objects or textile fibres.

Progress can be "incremental". In Denmark, the Danisco company recently managed to replace one of its plastics phthalate by a substitute from vegetable fat. This load stabilizing polymers had the disadvantage of being toxic, which posed a problem in children's toys including.

Valuing the glycerine

During this time, the French industrialists invest shyly. Arkema chemist funds some research in the field and several innovative SMEs trying to play the hares. This is particularly the case of ARD, the dynamic group Champagne cereal research centre. Located on the agro-industrial site of Bazancourt, it seeks to promote products of the sugar Crystal Union and Emmer Chamtor. Other French firms have totally missed the boat. This is the case of the chemist Rhodia for example, which bites still fingers to have sold its biotechnology of fermentation by transferring its Rhodia Food subsidiary to Danisco.

The new panorama 2006 published by the association France Biotech confirms the modesty of the French effort. For the moment, the bulk of white biotechnology is invested in the cosmetics sector, with 40 companies in this field. By contrast, only 12 biotech companies have invested in the food, and 16 work environment or industry. In these applications, traceability and control technologies dominated the chemistry, biomaterials, or the treatment of waste remain marginal.

Things done in France, including through the poles of competitiveness. The pole of Rhône-Alpes on Bioresources seeks in particular to glycerine, a by-product of biodiesel production, a European project. Its players are also preparing a regional program of some 20 million euros over four years. It would focus on the treatment of wastewater or intensification of industrial processes. At public laboratories, some too few teams draw their PIN of the game. As the National Agency for the research it funds since 2005 a few studies on the production of biofuels by biotechnology. It has also opened two new tenders on the development of these technologies.

It is now the French industrialists to capture the subject and to assess the potential. White biotechnology have every reason to drill in France. Because, unlike agricultural biotechnology work in nature, micro-GM involved in new processes remain confined in tanks, as in the case of pharmaceutical biotechnology. Industry will not, therefore, face the demonisation of GMOs by the French public. Even if white biotechnologies have everything to gain to use cereals or genetically modified oilseed to contain more starch or recoverable products. Americans are already working on this next step.