Scientific American Magazine

Introducing an issue on the making of food, drink, pharmaceudcals and industrial chemicals by microorganisms, with special reference to newer methods of programming the microorganisms for their task

They are yeasts molds bacteria and actinomycetes (filamentous bacteria). They now include however cultured mammalian cells and "hybridomas": cells created by the fusion of two cell lines

The useful products made by microorganisms are specified by genes. The genes in turn are specified by intensive selection and now by direct intervention such as introducing genes from other organisms

Beer, wine, bread and cheese have been made by microorganisms since Neolithic times. To them have been added spirits, yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut, Oriental fermented foods and today single-cell protein

The introduction of penicillin opened up a new era in medicine. Now microorganisms manufacture not only a host of other antibiotics but also vitamins, hormones, alkaloids, antitumor drugs and interferons

Tonnage amounts of many chemicals have traditionally been produced synthetically from fossil fuels. The rising price of petroleum makes fermentative production from other feedstocks increasingly attractive

Traditional practice combines with the scale on which most products are made to favor manufacture in batches. Newer, continuous methods, however, are being explored

Introducing new genes into crop plants by recombinant-DNA methods is difficult and not in immediate prospect. Much progress can be made, however, by manipulating the microorganisms that live with plants