The International Society for Environmental Biotechnology is widely considered as the global governing authority for environmental biotechnology R&D.  Over the last few decades, humans have widely experimented with genetic manipulations and environmental engineering to develop more eco friendly and cost effective industrial processes.

One of the great examples of this is the Green Revolution of India, which in 1961 saved the country from a large famine. Norman Borlung and C. Subramaniam were two of the bright minds who in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) designed a new variety of rice knows as IR8 which gave a 10x yield. More such high yielding variety of crops were designed thanks to advancements in environmental biotech and thus revolutionised the way a country produces and consumes food. This was a great step towards food security.

Treating oil spills by introducing microbes that can break oil to produce energy is another important application of 'eco-biotech' amongst various others like the development of more effective waste disposal systems, improving the biodegradability of plastics, producing electro-chemical energy and maybe even electricity from live organisms, and breaking down harmful air pollutants before they are emitted.

Hopefully in the coming years, with adequate funding and quality R&D, environmental biotech will provide us a more sustainable society rid of pollutants and toxic effluents and shining with clean air, water and streets.