In future is it possible to produce natural fibres having characteristics of synthetic fibres without planting and harvesting? Or production of naturally dyed fibres which eliminate totally dyeing procedure? Can silk fibres be produced from the source other than silk worm and dyed it in dyebath prepared from textile dye effluents?
Yes! All aforesaid possibilities can be addressed through a powerful biological tool known as "Biotechnology". With the advent of genetic engineering, technology has reached a stage where synthetic polymers, ie, polyester fibres can be etched with the help of enzymes. We even have exciting discoveries wherein synthetic analogous of functional groups in enzymes are prepared to act in a similar manner as natural enzymes, a technology appropriately termed as "bio-mimicking" (13).
Biotechnology is an abbreviation of "biological technology" and has been defined as "the application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by biological agents to provide goods and services." Biotechnology is not a single technology, it can be considered as a group of inter-related technologies that are applicable to a broad range of manufacturing industries as well as agriculture. It is said to be the harbinger of third industrial revolution (first two being steam power and microprocessor) (14).
The rapid developments in the field of genetic engineering have given a new impetus to biotechnology. This introduces the possibility of tailoring organisms for transferring genetic material (genes) from one organism to another (12). Impetus to the use of DNA probes in textile industry has come from importers to identify the products and overcome the labelling frauds such as to distinguish between wool and cashmere. Other areas where biotechnology is aiding are wet processing, treatment of effluents to remove colour and heavy metals, additive in aftercare products (detergents), production of dyes, surfactants, biosensors and genetic modification as well as production of biopolymers (9).
Various definitions are given for the term biotechnology by different institutes:
The United States Office of Technology Assessment has defined biotechnology as "any technique that uses living organisms (or parts of organisms) to make or modify products, to improve plants or animals or to develop microorganisms for specific uses" (9).
The definition given by the American Chemical Society involves "the use of living organisms to carry out chemical processes or to manufacture products" (10).
In 1981 the European federation of biotechnology defined Biotechnology as ‚Integrated use of three disciplines i.e. Biochemistry, Microbiology and Chemical Engineering in order to achieve the technological application of the capacities of microbes and cultured tissue cells (12).
An application of biotechnology in textile industry offers the ability to increase production, improve quality and functionality, reduce costs and protect the environment. Research within textile biotechnology is very broad and involves areas such as enzymology, chemistry, fibre testing, textile technology and effluent treatment process technology.
Areas of applications of biotechnology in the textile industry
Improvement of plant varieties used in the production of textile fibres and in fibre properties.
Improvement of fibres derived from animals and health care of the animals.
Novel fibres from biopolymers and genetically modified micro-organisms.
Replacement of harsh and energy demanding chemical treatments by enzymes in textile processing.
Environmentally friendly routes to textile auxiliaries such as dyestuffs.
Novel uses for enzymes in textile finishing.
Development of low energy enzyme based detergents.
New diagnostic tools for detection of adulteration and Quality Control of textiles.
Waste management.
Thus the use of biotechnology holds promise for less environmental damage than harsh chemicals and for improvements in processing and in tailoring properties for specific applications. Therefore keeping in view benefits of biotechnology, application of biotechnology in textile sector must have following objectives5:
The primary objectives of the application of biotechnology in textile are:
To develop environment- friendly production technologies for textile industry.
To save resources like energy and chemicals.
To improve the quality of final product.
This will be achieved by exchanging research information within world's research units active in textile biotechnology oriented research. The secondary objectives are the following:
To increase basic as well as applied knowledge required to set up quality standards for assessing textile materials using physical, chemical and instrumental techniques.
To develop standards and to support the fledgling non-textile end-users by providing quality characteristics for textile material assessment.
Understanding of the structure-function relationships of textile materials.
Evaluation of the potential of existing and novel enzyme activities on the properties of textile materials.
Thus the major areas of application of biotechnology in textile industry are: Production (Biopolymers), Processing (Enzymology), and Waste Management (Bioremediation)
