Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISIPriorities for Addressing Opportunities and Gaps of Industrial Biotechnology for an efficient use of funding resources (PROGRESS)
Industrial biotechnology (IB) employs organisms or parts thereof such as tissues, cells, cell extracts or isolated enzymes in order to produce a wide range of products including food and feed, consumer products (laundry and dish washing agents), building blocks for chemical synthesis as well as pharmaceuticals. It is considered to be one of the most promising, innovative approaches towards providing solutions for the transformation from a fossil towards a bio-based economy. However, while the potential of IB for Europe is enormous, significant hurdles to realize the potential remain, such as the mismatch between R&D&I activities and demand, lock-ins to fossil-based pathways, fragmentation of markets and competencies etc.