Biotechnology advancements to tackle climate change/ climate crisis

Edited by:

Sachin Kumar, PhD, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, India
Atul Kolte, PhD, ICAR-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, India
Ashis Kumar Samanta, PhD, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, India

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 31 December 2024

Biotechnology for the Environment is calling for submissions to our Collection on Biotechnology advancements to tackle climate change / climate crisis.

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New Content Item This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 13: Climate Action.

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About the Collection

Since the date of civilization, ancient human has applied knowledge, wisdom, information and tools to better manage the food system, combat diseases, mitigate climate disasters towards creating ideal ecosystem of the entire globe for the welfare of the planet Earth to ensure better living by generation after generation and keeping it in best appropriate conditions, where each and every one will live safely. Comprehending the tremendous success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the collective efforts of the global leaders, the head of States and Government decided to set the world on the road towards sustainable development through the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development during September, 2015. Certainly, those adopted agenda surfaced in the name of unique seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for growth, peace, harmony, prosperity on this planet Earth. Among those seventeen SDGs, the Goal No. 13, popularly known as ‘Climate Action’ occupies significant niche because there is no single country left that is not facing the adverse impacts of climate change or climate crisis. The greenhouse gases emission is 50% higher than nineties of previous century and global warming is threatening the developmental gains achieved so far and also its people living across countries from north to south or from east to West; urging for immediate and collective actions at local, national, regional and global level to limit the increase of global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Proactive programmes and action points focussing on the SDG No. 13 not only ensure progress towards the particular goal, but also capable to support and contribute immensely for rest of the SDGs.

Despite the emergence of climate change, the entire globe has witnessed a phenomenal growth in the field of biotechnology during the previous century; enabling the people to harness the combined research advancements of biology and engineering for a varietal application including food production to quality enrichment, gut manipulation to desired gene expression, climate resilient to genetically modified crop/ livestock/ fishes, drug discovery to delivery, disease prevention to treatment and so on. In light of the above facts coupled with emerging threats posed by the climate change, the time has come in front of the global researchers to harness the collective power of biotechnological and engineering tools to mitigate the challenges for making the planet safe, healthy and prosperous. Therefore, the current call entitled “Biotechnology advancements to tackle climate change/ climate crisis” is clarion announcement for submitting manuscripts including research paper, review, short note in the special issue of the journal “Biotechnology for the Environment”; a flagship open access journal published by BioMed Central, part of Springer Nature.

The main areas in scope are, but not only limited to:
o   Omics approaches for production of rice with reduced carbon footprint;
o   Reduction of enteric greenhouse gases emission from livestock through cutting edge biotechnological tools;
o   Gene editing for climate resilient crop/ livestock/ fishes;
o   Biotic approaches for manipulation of gut towards better performance against climate linked disasters;
o   Nanotechnology for precise nutrient/ functional food/ nutraceutical delivery;
o   Climate smart crop against emerging insect/ disease/ pathogens;
o   Living medicine (engineered probiotic to produce specific amino acid, vitamins, peptide, bacteriocin, biomolecules, enzymes etc) to equip better against climate change/ crisis;
o   Life cycle assessment of foods from crop/ livestock/ fishes & scope of biotechnological interventions for minimizing carbon footprint;
o   Harnessing microbial diversity for tackling emerging and reemerging pests/ viruses/ pathogens/ diseases of climate origin
o   Waste to wealth generation through value addition using biotechnological interventions

Meet the Guest Editors

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Sachin Kumar, PhD, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, India

Dr. Sachin Kumar is a distinguished Scientist at the Rumen Biotechnology Laboratory, Animal Nutrition Division of ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India. He earned his Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India, and undertook post-doctoral training at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Agriculture and Food in Brisbane, Australia. Dr. Kumar's expertise has been recognized globally, as evidenced by his service as an expert in the Expert Meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on “Alternative and advanced feed practices to promote the responsible use of antimicrobials”. His research focuses on rumen microbiology, nutraceuticals, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), greenhouse gas (GHG) emission mitigation, and biotechnology, with significant contributions in each domain. Dr. Kumar has led 24 research projects funded by various agencies including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DBT, DST, and others, showcasing his leadership and innovation as a principal and co-principal investigator. His scholarly impact extends to 65 research papers in international/ national journals of high repute. In recognition of his outstanding contributions, Dr. Kumar has received numerous prestigious early researcher awards including the National Academy of Dairy Science (India) Associate Fellowship, Dr. S. K. Sirohi Memorial Outstanding Young Researcher Award, and Dr. U. B. Singh Young Scientist Award, International Travel Grant, among others.

Atul Kolte, PhD, ICAR- National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, India

Dr Kolte is Senior Scientist (Animal Biotechnology) at the Omics Laboratory of ICAR-NIANP, Bengaluru, India. His work focuses on reducing the enteric methane emissions from ruminants using environment friendly phyto-based approaches and exploring the mechanisms of enteric methane emissions in livestock. He uses sequence based metagenomics for characterization of rumen/gut microflora, their relationship with the rumen fermentation products and role of archaea in reducing the methanogenesis in rumen. His other areas of interest include prebiotics production from agricultural by-products, their effect on the gut microflora in monogastric animals and poultry. He has published 82 research papers in different areas.

Ashis Kumar Samanta, PhD, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, India

Dr. Ashis Kumar Samanta is currently working as the Head of the Animal Nutrition Division of the prestigious ICAR- National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana, India. He has been bestowed with the ICAR- Jawaharlal Nehru Award for his outstanding doctoral research on anaerobic fungi; living in the foregut and hindgut of cattle and buffaloes. He undergone post-doctoral training in The University of Adeliade, Australia under the coveted Endeavour Research Fellowship. His research areas of interest include prebiotic, probiotic, synbiotic, gut health, densification and valorization of crop residues, fodder conservation, etc. His pathbreaking research on the valorization of agricultural wastes and byproducts finds the way for prebiotic production from the renewable biomass. Working as Senior Programme Specialist in the SAARC Agriculture Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh, he immensely contributed for the South Asian livestock sector; the platform linked with the attainment of multiple SDGs. Specifically, he was leading the regional activities and policies on AMR challenge, feeding and healthcare during natural calamities, capacity building, native germplasm exchange, feed and fodder, transboundary animal disease, etc. Dr. Samanta successfully completed multiple competitive research projects supported by the Coconut Development Board, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Science & Technology, World Bank, ICAR AP Cess etc. He is the recipient of ICAR Award for Outstanding Interdisciplinary Team Research in Agriculture and Allied Sciences and Fellow of National Academy of Veterinary Science.

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Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of research papers, reviews, short notes. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal.

Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. Please, select the appropriate Collection title “Biotechnology advancements to tackle climate change/climate crisis" under the “Details” tab during the submission stage.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer-review process. The peer-review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.