How The Bioeconomy Could Save Both Nature And Jobs Following The Indian Ocean Oil Spill In Mauritius

The world was shocked when the large, Japanese freighter started leaking toxic Heavy Fuel Oil into the pristine waters of the coral reef lagoon in Mauritius last week.

As the country comes to grips with the magnitude of what it truly means to have such a high volume of highly toxic Heavy Fuel Oil that is as exposed to sunlight, the race is on to identify and save some of the rare species that are in the area of the crash site and spill zone.

Whilst some are prominent, charismatic and well known species, such as the rare Pink Pigeon or one of the famous endangered Geckos or Skinks that Mauritius wildlife is known for, many others may be unremarkable when looked at visually, or even microscopic in nature.

However, this may be where some of the real gems may lie amid Mauritius’ unique biodiversity. 

The rapidly emerging field of Synthetic Biology can offer a country like Mauritius both a lifeline to accelerate the discovery of these rare species, as well as provide a springboard, to make the Bioeconomy the centerpiece of a new, sustainable economic growth paradigm that can define the next thirty years of growth.

Here’s why.

The nature of economic growth is changing

With the pressures of climate change and loss of biodiversity globally, there is a growing need to disconnect economic growth from environmental footprint.  Covid-19 has accelerated this trend, with the EU announcing almost a $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package centered around a green recovery.

In addition to sustainability, two of the other mega-trends defining the next decade include advances in Artificial Intelligence and the rapidly evolving field of Synthetic Biology.

These could all combine to put Mauritius in a very unique position to capitalize on these tailwinds, while it grapples with the worst ecological disaster in its history with the large spill of Heavy Fuel Oil in its coral lagoon.

The true value of Mauritius’ unique biodiversity

Traditionally, the motivation to save biodiversity was more for tourism purposes (eco-tourism), with no real other economic model. This did not allow biodiversity rich countries like Mauritius to fully value the potential of this incredible richness of nature, beyond species which was visually appealing.

Now with rapid advances in Synthetic Biology, scientists are only just beginning to realize the incredible commercial value of some of this unique biodiversity.

The synthetic biology revolution is uncovering new uses for novel biology that previous only existed in science fiction movies.

In an article in Health Section, scientist Louis Metzger identifies the medicines, industrial products, and agricultural products that are being sought out and commercialized around the world. He finds that the greatest promise may lie in genomics from the ocean, particularly in tropical climates with start gradient changes, like the edge of coral reefs.

As we only just understand the implications of marine genomics, the potential could be huge. Synthetic biology is one of the hottest technology sectors in Silicon Valley right now. A recent McKinsey report estimated the size of this sector could grow to $4 trillion in the next decade.

As we start to see synthetic biology unicorns emerge, countries who are able to create the right public-private partnerships for collaboration could significantly accelerate the discovery of the next new cancer drug or even Covid-19 treatment from a marine organism found around the reef.  These are all multi-billion dollar potential opportunities.

And these have all been put at risk with the oil spill exposing the unique and fragile reefs systems to a highly toxic substance, that will permanently alter the biological profile of the region.

Synthetic Biology to the rescue 

One of the critical first steps needed in the face of seeing a catastrophic collapse of biodiversity, is to rapidly sequence what is in the lagoon and surrounding areas before this is lost forever.

With the latest advances in Synthetic Biology, such DNA sequencers are not no larger than a cell phone, and can complete a sequence within minutes.

There is an art to preparing a sample and sequencing the DNA (it is not as simple as a barcode scanner at a supermarket), but we are getting close.

This means that a country like Mauritius has a unique opportunity to mobilize an army of researchers to collect and sequence samples, placing them into a large digital library. This army who are needed to perform the environmental baseline surveys for protection against the spill, would then become the workforce of the future, trained in the latest technologies in one of the hottest new sectors.

Having such data in a large digital library, with a strong public-private partnership, can allow other companies on the cutting edge of synthetic biology to shop through the catalog of interesting species available in each location.  As each synthetic biology company is also likely looking for different types of species in a library, this could allow a wide number of collaboration.  Given International Laws around the Nagoya Protocol that prohibits the transportation and commercialization of wildlife to other locations without express permission, this forces a strong public private collaboration.

It also helps identify the extent of how many potentially valuable organic compounds exist in the unique environment around Southeast Mauritius and the potential commercial value to the country of having DNA that may have evolved over millions of years in a very unique environment.

If having a large library of this genomic data is critical to the competitiveness of the local bio-economy, compared to other countries, then it truly is a race to sequence as many species and habitats are possible, before they are lost forever.