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Review
. 2016 Mar 24:5:F1000 Faculty Rev-396.
doi: 10.12688/f1000research.7432.1. eCollection 2016.

Extremophiles and biotechnology: current uses and prospects

James A Coker  1
Affiliations
Review

Extremophiles and biotechnology: current uses and prospects

James A Coker. F1000Res. .

Abstract

Biotechnology has almost unlimited potential to change our lives in very exciting ways. Many of the chemical reactions that produce these products can be fully optimized by performing them at extremes of temperature, pressure, salinity, and pH for efficient and cost-effective outcomes. Fortunately, there are many organisms (extremophiles) that thrive in extreme environments found in nature and offer an excellent source of replacement enzymes in lieu of mesophilic ones currently used in these processes. In this review, I discuss the current uses and some potential new applications of extremophiles and their products, including enzymes, in biotechnology.

Keywords: Biotechnology; Carotenoids; Extremophiles; Lipases; Proteases; biofuels.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The author declares that he has no competing interests.

No competing interests were disclosed.

References

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    2. F1000 Recommendation

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