About Bioremediation

Bioremediation is a waste management technique that involves use of microorganisms to remove neutraliuse pollutants from a contaminated site. Bioremediation is a “treatment that uses naturally occurring organisms to break down hazardous substances into less toxic or nontoxic substances”. Biodegradation is the chemical dissolution of materials by bacteria fungi or biological means While biodegradable simply means to be consumed by microorganism, "compostable" makes the specific demand that the object break down under composting conditions. Diverse groups of microorganisms are involved in biodegradation of organic contaminants, and these organisms vary widely in adaptations and responses to in situ conditions, which can complicate managing bioremediation projects involving indigenous organisms. However, would bioremediation proceed differently with knowledge of the identity of active degraders at a given site? Until recently, it has not often been a question worthy of discussion, given the difficulty of establishing such information, but that is changing with the advent of tools designed for that purpose. Among the recent advancements in ecological methods, applications of stable isotope probing, stand out for providing the potential to establish the identity of microorganisms involved in biodegradation in situ.