Problems in Commercial Exploitation of Plant Cell Cultures

Summary

With the commercialization of a number of processes in the area of plant cell biotechnology and natural product synthesis, and growing, though sometimes highly sceptical, interest by industry, attention has begun to focus on those areas which still cause major problems on the path to commercial application. While there is no question that the plant kingdom, with a tremendously diverse and flexible gene pool, has the potential to provide us with what we need, do we have the understanding and means of harnessing that potential in a commercial framework? This paper considers some of the key areas which currently limit a more widespread industrial application of plant cell culture technology. These areas include enhancement of growth rate, product synthesis and productivity, the performance of cultures in different forms of process plant, the stability of cell lines and, often forgotten but crucially important, the mode of product recovery. Underlying all this, however, is the constantly recurring theme that the real limitation lies in our lack of understanding of the basic physiology and biochemistry of plant cell systems. Until we begin to build a fundamental knowledge base in a more constructive fashion than at present, progress towards application will be restricted and will all too often be based upon serendipitous observation rather than scientific logic.