Can we engineer life? 3.3 Well-being for all
In 1971 I did a work placement at Tel Aviv University in Israel. It was a wonderful and decisive period in my life. The researchers in the lab judged it more important that I got to know their country, than that I did some research for them. Saturday, Sabbath, was their only day off, but
Healthy soils for a productive bioeconomy
If business site Forbes devotes attention to a subject as esoteric as healthy soils, we know that there will be business in it. As science has discovered the importance of the soil microbiome, this intricate ecosystem of microorganisms around plants’ roots, researchers all over the world start trying to unravel its miraculous properties. Many years
Innovations: did I miss something?
BiofuelsDigest, the world’s most widely read biofuels daily, as they proudly claim, concluded in May this year that ‘The pace of invention and change is just too strong … to highlight annual or even quarterly or monthly rankings and summaries of significant product and service advances.’ That was why they announced to ‘… going to
Food security in times of climate change
Food security is becoming an important issue even in Europe, where this year’s summer drought has led to significant crop failures. How can future food security be guaranteed in times of climate change? Are digitisation, robotization, biostimulants medium and long-term solutions, together with new possibilities of food production in cities, seas and biotech laboratories? Nova-Institute
Can we engineer life? 3.1 Transition is unavoidable
‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’ (Nelson Mandela). Hans Tramper is professor emeritus in Bioprocess Technology at Wageningen University and reflects on the development of his subject in a series of essays. His pieces were published so far on 18 June, 30 June, 11 July, 22 July,
Renewable carbon, the key to a sustainable chemical industry
The world needs to start purposely to restructure chemical industry in such a way that it is based on renewable carbon instead of fossil fuels, says nova-Institute in its latest position paper. Chemical industry cannot ‘decarbonize’ as the energy sector can, as it is all about carbon. But it can move over to use renewable
Can we engineer life? 3.2 Planetary boundaries
‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’ (Nelson Mandela). Hans Tramper is professor emeritus in Bioprocess Technology at Wageningen University and reflects on the development of his subject in a series of essays. His pieces were published so far on 18 June, 30 June, 11 July, 22 July,
on: 10 September 2018