Precision Microbial Nanobiosynthesis:
Knowledge, Issues, and Potentiality
for the In Vivo Tuning of Microbial
Nanomaterials
G. Grasso, D. Zane, and R. Dragone
1 Introduction
The large-scale production and application of nanomaterials are currently mainly
restrained by the low environmental sustainability of nanomanufacturing processes
based on traditional top-down or bottom-up chemical and physical approaches. The
microbial-mediated biosynthesis of nanomaterials is a promising biotechnologicalbased nanomanufacturing process for the transition toward the development of more
sustainable and innovative industrial nanomanufacturing. The achievement of a
suitable applicative development and the scaling-up of microbial nanobiosynthesis
include at least three different current research key drivers, namely green chemistry,
white biotechnology, and synthetic biology. ‘Green chemistry’ can be defined as the
invention, design, and application of chemical products and processes to reduce or
to eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. ‘White biotechnology’
is a branch of biotechnology that exploit living cells, including microorganisms,
to synthesize products at industrial level using less energy, producing less waste
and/or using the by-products, residues, or wastes from other production processes,
e.g., agro-wastes industrial by-products. ‘Synthetic biology’ is a multidisciplinary
science that aims to engineer organisms to make them acquire new abilities and functions. Therefore, a full development of microbial nanobiosynthesis is a fascinating
emerging prospect for future sustainable nanomaterial production at industrial scale.
The ability to biosynthesize metallic, metal oxides nanoparticles (hereinafter abbreviated as ‘NPs’), and quantum dots (QDs) has been reported in the literature for a
wide variety of microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, molds, and microalgae (Li
G. Grasso (B) · D. Zane · R. Dragone
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati c/o
Dipartimento di Chimica, ‘Sapienza’, Università di Roma, P. le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
e-mail: gerardo.grasso@cnr.it
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. Lateef et al. (eds.), Microbial Nanobiotechnology, Materials Horizons: From Nature
to Nanomaterials, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4777-9_3
75
Knowledge, Issues, and Potentiality
for the In Vivo Tuning of Microbial
Nanomaterials
G. Grasso, D. Zane, and R. Dragone
1 Introduction
The large-scale production and application of nanomaterials are currently mainly
restrained by the low environmental sustainability of nanomanufacturing processes
based on traditional top-down or bottom-up chemical and physical approaches. The
microbial-mediated biosynthesis of nanomaterials is a promising biotechnologicalbased nanomanufacturing process for the transition toward the development of more
sustainable and innovative industrial nanomanufacturing. The achievement of a
suitable applicative development and the scaling-up of microbial nanobiosynthesis
include at least three different current research key drivers, namely green chemistry,
white biotechnology, and synthetic biology. ‘Green chemistry’ can be defined as the
invention, design, and application of chemical products and processes to reduce or
to eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. ‘White biotechnology’
is a branch of biotechnology that exploit living cells, including microorganisms,
to synthesize products at industrial level using less energy, producing less waste
and/or using the by-products, residues, or wastes from other production processes,
e.g., agro-wastes industrial by-products. ‘Synthetic biology’ is a multidisciplinary
science that aims to engineer organisms to make them acquire new abilities and functions. Therefore, a full development of microbial nanobiosynthesis is a fascinating
emerging prospect for future sustainable nanomaterial production at industrial scale.
The ability to biosynthesize metallic, metal oxides nanoparticles (hereinafter abbreviated as ‘NPs’), and quantum dots (QDs) has been reported in the literature for a
wide variety of microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, molds, and microalgae (Li
G. Grasso (B) · D. Zane · R. Dragone
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati c/o
Dipartimento di Chimica, ‘Sapienza’, Università di Roma, P. le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
e-mail: gerardo.grasso@cnr.it
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
A. Lateef et al. (eds.), Microbial Nanobiotechnology, Materials Horizons: From Nature
to Nanomaterials, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4777-9_3
75