Industrial (“white”) biotechnology promises to contribute to a more sustainable future. Compared to current production processes, cases have been identified where industrial biotechnology can decrease the amount of energy and raw materials used to make products and also reduce the amount of emissions and waste produced during production. However, switching from products based on chemical production processes and fossil fuels towards “biobased” products is at present not necessarily economically viable. This is especially true for bulk products, for example ethanol production from biomass. Therefore, scientists are also turning to genetic modification as a means to develop organisms that can produce at lower costs. These include not only micro-organisms, but also organisms used in agriculture for food and feed.The use of genetic modification for “deliberate release” purposes, in particular, has met great opposition in Europe. Many industrial biotechnology applications may, due to their scale, entail deliberate releases of GM organisms. Thus, the biobased economy brings back a familiar question; is it ethically justifiable, and acceptable to citizens, to expose the environment and society to the risks associated with GM, in order to protect that same environment and to sustain our affluent way of life? For a successful innovation towards a biobased economy, its proponents, especially producers, need to take into account (take responsibility for) such issues when developing new products and processes. These issues, and how scientists can interact with citizens about them in a timely way, are further explored in projects at Delft University and Leiden University, also in collaboration with Utrecht University.

中文翻译：

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包括工业生物技术和生物基经济的公众观点

工业（“白色”）生物技术有望为更可持续的未来做出贡献。与当前的生产过程相比，已经发现工业生物技术可以减少用于制造产品的能源和原材料数量，并减少生产过程中产生的排放和废物量的案例。然而，从基于化学生产过程和化石燃料的产品转向“生物基”产品目前在经济上不一定可行。对于散装产品尤其如此，例如从生物质中生产乙醇。因此，科学家们也在转向基因改造，以此来开发能够以较低成本生产的生物体。这些不仅包括微生物，还包括农业中用于食品和饲料的生物。特别是将基因改造用于“故意释放”目的，在欧洲遭到了强烈反对。许多工业生物技术应用，由于其规模，可能需要有意释放转基因生物。因此，生物基经济带回了一个熟悉的问题；为了保护同样的环境并维持我们富裕的生活方式，将环境和社会暴露于与转基因相关的风险在道德上是否合理且为公民所接受？对于生物基经济的成功创新，其支持者，尤其是生产者，在开发新产品和新工艺时需要考虑（承担责任）这些问题。这些问题，以及科学家如何及时与公民就这些问题进行互动，