Biotechnology & the Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015, are a set of 17 interconnected goals aimed at ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity for all by 2030. They provide a shared framework for governments, businesses, civil society, and the research community to align their efforts towards sustainable development. Each goal has specific targets and indicators, and progress is tracked globally. While progress has been uneven and many targets are off-track, particularly after the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SDGs remain the dominant framework for global sustainability efforts.

Biotechnology contributes to multiple SDGs, particularly those related to environmental sustainability, food security, health, and industrial development. The technologies covered elsewhere in this Explore hub — bioremediation, sustainable bioprocesses, climate change biotechnology, biodiversity conservation biotechnology, and others — directly address SDG targets. Hrisana Journal's scope aligns with this contribution, providing a venue for research that advances both fundamental understanding and practical application of biotechnology for sustainability.

This page maps the connections between biotechnology research and the SDGs, identifying the specific goals and targets where biotechnology can contribute and highlighting research directions with particular potential for impact. For researchers, the SDG framework can inform research priorities, funding applications, and the framing of research significance. For practitioners, it provides a common language for communicating the relevance of biotechnology to broader sustainability efforts.

SDG 6 aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Despite progress, billions of people still lack safely managed drinking water and sanitation. Biotechnology contributes to SDG 6 through: biological wastewater treatment (which is more energy-efficient and produces less chemical sludge than physical-chemical treatment); water reuse technologies (membrane bioreactors, constructed wetlands, biofiltration) that extend water supplies; biological drinking water treatment (biofiltration for organic matter and ammonia removal); and biological approaches to removing emerging contaminants (pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors) from water.

Decentralized wastewater treatment, enabled by compact biological treatment technologies, can provide safe sanitation in areas without sewerage infrastructure. Anaerobic digesters provide on-site treatment with biogas as a co-product. Constructed wetlands provide low-maintenance polishing of effluent. These approaches are particularly relevant for rural areas, peri-urban settlements, and small communities in low- and middle-income countries. Research on robust, low-cost biological treatment systems supports the extension of safe sanitation to underserved populations.

Water quality monitoring is also addressed by biotechnology. Biosensors based on microorganisms or their components can detect pathogens, toxins, and pollutants in water. Environmental DNA monitoring can assess ecological health of water bodies. These tools support the SDG 6 target of improving water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping, and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials. Hrisana Journal welcomes research submissions that advance any of these applications.

SDG 13 calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Biotechnology contributes to climate mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing carbon sinks) and climate adaptation (enhancing resilience of agricultural and natural systems). Biofuels displace fossil fuels; bio-based materials displace petrochemical materials with lower life-cycle emissions; methane emissions from agriculture and waste can be reduced through biological interventions; and biological carbon capture can remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. These contributions are detailed in our Climate Change Biotechnology topic.

SDG 7 aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. Bioenergy — biogas, bioethanol, biodiesel, and advanced biofuels — contributes to SDG 7 by providing renewable energy from biomass. Biogas production from agricultural residues, food waste, and animal manure is particularly relevant for rural energy access in low- and middle-income countries, where small-scale digesters can provide cooking fuel and electricity. The digestate co-product is a valuable fertilizer, supporting agricultural productivity and closing nutrient loops.

Bioenergy must be developed sustainably, avoiding competition with food production, protecting biodiversity, and minimizing indirect land-use change emissions. The use of waste and residue feedstocks, the development of energy crops on marginal or degraded land, and the integration of bioenergy with food and materials production (biorefinery approaches) all contribute to sustainability. Hrisana Journal welcomes submissions on sustainable bioenergy research, including life-cycle assessments that transparently address these sustainability dimensions.

SDG 15 aims to protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Biotechnology contributes through: ecosystem restoration (microbial inoculation, biochar amendments, microbiome-aware planting); conservation biotechnology (eDNA monitoring, genomics for population management, cryopreservation); sustainable agriculture (microbiome engineering, biocontrol, reduced synthetic inputs); and bioremediation of contaminated soils. These approaches are detailed in our Ecosystem Restoration Biotechnology and Biodiversity Conservation Biotechnology topics.

SDG 14 aims to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development. Marine biotechnology contributes through: coral reef restoration (microbiome manipulation, selective breeding, assisted evolution); marine pollution bioremediation (oil spill response, microplastic degradation); sustainable aquaculture (algae cultivation, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, disease management); and marine biodiversity monitoring (eDNA). Marine biotechnology also supports the development of new products from marine organisms, contributing to the blue economy while ensuring sustainability.

The interconnected nature of the SDGs is particularly evident in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Land-based activities affect marine ecosystems through runoff, pollution, and climate change. Climate change affects both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Effective conservation and restoration require integrated approaches that consider these connections. Hrisana Journal welcomes interdisciplinary research that addresses the connections between terrestrial and marine ecosystems and that contributes to multiple SDG targets.

SDG 2 aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Biotechnology contributes through: crop improvement (marker-assisted breeding, genetic engineering, gene editing for yield, stress tolerance, and nutritional quality); soil microbiome management (enhancing nutrient cycling, disease suppression, stress tolerance); biocontrol of pests and diseases (reducing synthetic pesticide use); and food waste reduction (extended shelf-life, waste valorization through biological processes).

Agricultural biotechnology is sometimes controversial, with debates about genetically modified crops, pesticide use, and corporate control of seed supplies. A balanced assessment considers the specific application, its benefits and risks, and the alternatives. Gene editing (CRISPR) offers new opportunities to introduce beneficial traits without the regulatory burden of transgenic approaches. Microbiome engineering offers biological alternatives to synthetic inputs. These approaches, applied thoughtfully and equitably, can contribute to sustainable intensification of agriculture — producing more food on less land with fewer environmental impacts.

SDG 12 aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. The circular bioeconomy — using renewable biological resources to produce food, materials, and energy, with waste streams recycled back into production — directly addresses this goal. Biorefineries that convert biomass into multiple products, waste valorization that extracts value from waste streams, and bioplastics that reduce dependence on fossil-based plastics are all examples. Hrisana Journal welcomes submissions across all of these areas, particularly work that integrates technical innovation with sustainability assessment and that considers the social and economic dimensions of sustainable production.

Research that contributes to the SDGs deserves visibility, and open access publishing maximizes that visibility. Hrisana Journal provides an open-access venue for SDG-relevant research in environmental and ecological biotechnology. Our scope spans the technical, environmental, and social dimensions of biotechnology for sustainability. Our open-access model ensures your work reaches researchers, practitioners, and policymakers worldwide, supporting the translation of research into impact.

When framing SDG-relevant research for publication, authors should explicitly identify the SDG targets their work addresses, the specific contribution of the research, and the implications for achieving the target. This framing helps readers, particularly those outside the immediate field, understand the relevance of the work. It also supports discovery by researchers and practitioners working on the same SDG targets from different disciplinary perspectives. Hrisana Journal encourages this framing and welcomes submissions that explicitly engage with the SDG framework.

We particularly welcome submissions from researchers in low- and middle-income countries, where many of the SDG challenges are most acute and where local research capacity is essential for developing locally appropriate solutions. Our Free Publication Programme supports publication by eligible researchers, removing financial barriers to participation in the global research community. Visit our Submit Manuscript page to begin your submission, or review our Author Guidelines for preparation requirements. Together, we can advance the science and practice needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.