Environmental Biotechnology: Current Advances, New Knowledge Gaps, and Emerging Issues

Theterm“environmental biotechnology” encapsulates a wide and dynamic spectrum of topics including bioremediation, biofiltration, wastewater treatment, biodegradation, waste management, and biofuel production. All these disciplines are underpinned by complex interacting microbial communities; hence exciting research has been undertaken and increasingly driven by cutting-edge ecogenomic techniques. However, understanding of microbial diversity, population, and structure for sustainable environmental management remains largely a “black box.” Thus exciting findings identified new knowledge gaps and, inevitably, engendered novel research questions with inventive methodologies.