Editorial: Design and application of biocatalysts for biofuel and bio-based material production

Biological conversion of waste and biomass streams into green products (e.g., biofuels, value-added chemicals, and biobased polymers) has been a core research area over the past two decades. Microorganisms, consisting of a broad range of natural and genetically modified strains, play the central role in biocatalysis. In addition, process engineering, optimization, and technological developments play a significant role in obtaining a high-throughput biocatalysis approach. Furthermore, researchers are trying to develop high-performance biocatalysts and efficient bioprocesses with advances in the micro-environment engineering of enzymes and microorganisms. However, biobased conversion technologies are still limited by the low performance of biocatalysts, low tolerance, accumulation of toxic intermediates, instability of enzymes, and techno-economic feasibility. Therefore, multidisciplinary and multidimensional efforts are required to overcome these barriers.