Biodegradability prediction is biologically inspired computing and attempts to predict biodegradability of anthropogenic materials in the environment

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

. Demand for biodegradability prediction is expected to increase with governments stepping up environmental regulations (see, for instance, testing for bioaccumulation

Bioaccumulation

Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other organic chemicals in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at which the substance is lost...

 in the REACH proposal).

Example:

• Development of quantitative structure-activity relationship
  Quantitative structure-activity relationship
  Quantitative structure–activity relationship or QSPR is the process by which chemical structure is quantitatively correlated with a well defined process, such as biological activity or chemical reactivity.For example, biological activity can be expressed quantitatively as the concentration of a...
  
   (QSARs) for biodegradation
  Biodegradation
  Biodegradation or biotic degradation or biotic decomposition is the chemical dissolution of materials by bacteria or other biological means...
  
  , for instance, biochemical oxygen demand
  Biochemical oxygen demand
  Biochemical oxygen demand or B.O.D. is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. The term also refers to a chemical procedure for...
  
   for chemicals released into the environment with the aid of machine learning
  Machine learning
  Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, is a scientific discipline concerned with the design and development of algorithms that allow computers to evolve behaviors based on empirical data, such as from sensor data or databases...
  
   and other artificial intelligence
  Artificial intelligence
  Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
  
   methods.
• The University of Minnesota
  University of Minnesota
  The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
  
   Biocatalysis and Biodegradation Database (UM-BBD), which contains information on microbial biocatalytic reactions and biodegradation pathways for primarily xenobiotic, chemical compounds. One of its many features allows the prediction of microbial catabolic reactions using substructure searching, a rule-base, and atom-to-atom mapping.

See also

• Anaerobic digestion
  Anaerobic digestion
  Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. It is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and/or to release energy....
  
  
• Biodegradation
  Biodegradation
  Biodegradation or biotic degradation or biotic decomposition is the chemical dissolution of materials by bacteria or other biological means...
  
  
• Composting
• Landfill gas monitoring
  Landfill gas monitoring
  Landfill gas monitoring is the process by which gases that are released from landfills are electronically monitored.-Techniques for the monitoring of landfill gas:...
  
  
• List of environment topics
• List of ecology topics

External links

• UM-BBD