The birth of the hiv-resistant gentech twins Lulu and Nana in China has stirred up the debate on methods and results of modern biotechnology. Rightfully so. The gap between what science can do, and what is ethically responsible in the … Read more
Golden rice symbolizes the protracted trench war between proponents and opponents of modern biotechnology. The Swiss Ingo Potrykus of ETH Zürich is the golden man behind the golden rice. With great ardour he defends this controversial rice, and attacks the … Read more
The Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking, abbreviated as BBI JU, is in the final stages of the procedure to award funding for new research and development proposals. BBI JU is a €3.7 billion Public-Private Partnership between the EU and the Bio-based … Read more
Five years ago, we visited the outstanding horticultural company Koppert Cress in Monster near The Hague in the Netherlands. Then already, general manager Rob Baan told us that horticulture should concentrate on fresh produce for a healthy diet; with ingredients … Read more
Every year the European car industry uses around 80,000 tonnes of wood and plant fibres to reinforce composites, instead of synthetic fibres like glass and carbon fibre. Biocomposites have become increasingly popular with car manufacturers because they can reduce vehicle … Read more
Plants have large and complicated genomes. Therefore, until recently, the insertion of foreign DNA was a kind of roulette: where will DNA be modified, will the insertion work, and will there be side effects? But by now, techniques have much … Read more
We know that plants grow faster in CO2-rich environments. Horticulturalists enrich the atmosphere in their greenhouses with CO2 to ensure better productivity. Can we imagine fast growing plants that would capture CO2 from the air, and on a large scale? … Read more
Modern history is full of stories of new chemicals sold on a large scale and afterwards causing problems. Sometimes, this causes a major upheaval. But by far the largest poisoning in history, that by tetraethyl lead, never ended in a … Read more
Modern techniques are in very rapid development. We can now analyse the most complex DNAs down to the level of individual base pairs, knowledge that will enable us to continue to produce enough food in times of climate change. And … Read more
‘Again and again, new products fascinate us: the smartphone, the airplane wing that can be glued, new medicines,’ says Ton Schoot Uiterkamp, ‘but we do not think in terms of chains and generally ignore the indirect effects of these inventions. … Read more
Ever since mankind developed agriculture, we try to selectively breed plants in order to secure enough and good food. Our capabilities to purposely engineer plant genomes have increased a lot over the past few decades. There are many applications of … Read more
Why cannot we lift all barriers for the use of bioenergy? Because the energy sector is much larger than the food sector. The 20 billion tons of fossil fuels that mankind uses each year, is equivalent to 40 billion tons … Read more
Some proponents of affordable housing may be under the impression that sustainable homes are more expensive to construct and maintain than those built using traditional means. However, there are actually a number of sustainable practices that can make green homes … Read more
To date, most 3D printed buildings have been built from concrete. Could 3D printed bioplastic be a more sustainable option? Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is a major part of the fourth industrial revolution and it will transform the construction … Read more
Anyone attached to Greece (and I am one of them) knows moussaka, one of the most traditional dishes of the Greek kitchen. I have mixed feelings on it, even though I love all ingredients of this oven dish with aubergines … Read more
Since the turn of the century, there is a discussion raging on the limits to biomass use for energy purposes, in order to control man-made CO2 emissions. After having been greeted with enthusiasm at first, bioenergy is now met with … Read more
In September 2017, the FAO released a report on hunger in the world. According to this report, in 2016 11% of the global population experienced hunger, i.e. 815 million people, 38 million more than in the preceding year. This is … Read more
Fifty years ago, the Club of Rome was founded; in its own words ‘an organisation of individuals who share a common concern for the future of humanity and strive to make a difference…. Our mission is to promote understanding of … Read more
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 … Read more
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’ … Read more
‘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. … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
‘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. … Read more
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 … Read more
Anyone who opposes genetically modified (GM) food can tell you that ‘in France’ they found that GM maize causes cancer in rats. This study was conducted under leadership of Gilles-Éric Séralini, professor in molecular biology at the University of Caen. … Read more
This year, August 1 is Earth Overshoot Day. Each year, this is the day at which mankind has used up its stock of biological resources for that year. Never has this Day been so early in the year, meaning that … Read more
In the entire discussion on biotechnological rejuvenation, very few researchers ask the question why this should be a goal worth pursuing. In a series of articles (July 25, July 28 and July 31) we explore the potential of biotechnology to … Read more
Biotechnology has now reached the point that some researchers target rejuvenation as their goal, ultimately in humans. With a slight hint of immortality behind the horizon. But if we look more carefully, they are still far removed from those targets. … Read more
What will come after healthy aging? In biotechnology, advances have been so swift over the past few decades, that some scientists have started thinking of ways to tackle aging itself, that ultimate and fatal disease of mankind. Even with some … Read more
Gene technology is a much-discussed technology with almost endless opportunities. Opponents have objected to it right from the start. Their worry was and is, that researchers do not exactly know what they’re doing when they adjust genes and modify the … Read more
Mycorrhiza fungi increase yields in a targeted and environmentally friendly way, robots help farmers to control weeds ecologically. Smallholders optimise outputs with sensors in the soil and with modern biorefineries. Both smallholder and organic farming can benefit greatly from technological … Read more
Driven by government regulations and concerns regarding environmental preservation and depletion of natural resources, the bio-based solvents industry has faced an exponential rise in demand and a push towards the development of innovative green solutions. These solvents, among which bio-acetone … Read more
In 1973, Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer of Stanford University and University of California, did the first successful recombinant-DNA experiments on the bacterium Escherichia coli. Through genetic ‘cutting and pasting’ they succeeded in introducing resistance in this bacterium that inhabits … Read more
Imitating nature’s engineering secrets at the nanoscale could lead to a host of useful applications, like energy saving materials. Biomimicry, also called bionics, uses structures found in nature to solve everyday problems. A well-known example is the Velcro strip, which … Read more
Among the wonderful new materials with unexpected properties that will change our world is microcrystalline cellulose. I got a new perspective on it through the lecture of Stéphane Laurent at the Siñal exhibition in Châlons-en-Champagne, end May. Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) … Read more
Only quite recently historically speaking, mankind acquired the know-how to change the properties of living species: as people settled and developed agriculture. But it required a revolution, much later, to develop the knowledge to do this in a purposeful way. … Read more
Companies around the globe are building the biobased economy as they commercialize renewable chemicals and biobased products. Collectively, their progress has reached a tipping point for accelerated growth in the 21st century. Governments and policy makers can unleash this growth … Read more
1973 was a remarkable year. We witnessed the first global energy crisis, leading to motor car-free Sundays in the Netherlands. In the US, president Nixon had to resign because of the Watergate affair. In the scope of the series of … Read more
An interesting article in the Guardian, last week, shed light on new strategies to combat insect attacks on food and commercial crops, through genetic modification. But in such a way that the modified genes will not show up in the … Read more
The impact of the new technologies, such as robotics, drones and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing our food production system. Precision farming has shaken up a number of large companies to invest in the development of new solutions for future … Read more
The real sustainability revolution in farming is New Breeding Techniques like CRISPR. Why are organic farmers blocked from using them? This article by David Warmflash was originally published on the site of Genetic Literacy Project. Organic farming opposes genetic engineering … Read more
Many universities and innovative companies are looking for new ways to close the future protein gap for food and feed, and cover future protein demand on a sustainable basis. German nova-Institute compiled an overview of the latest developments. Nova-Institute organizes … Read more
The strongest biomaterial ever has been assembled recently by Swedish, American and German researchers; it consists of cellulose, properly speaking of carefully parallel oriented cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). The material is stronger than steel, even stronger than spider silk, regarded as … Read more
Some two months ago, Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad opened with the news that biodiesel caused accelerated corrosion of unlined steel storage tanks in use at Dutch petrol stations. Being a natural product, biodiesel promotes build-up of bacteria that are attached … Read more
In February, BP published a new Energy Outlook. The main difference with previous outlooks lies in its renewable energy forecasts. The previous ones were scandalously low. The company partly redressed this state of affairs, and even confessed that it had … Read more
These days, my inbox is overflowing with messages from concerned scientists warning that mankind cannot pursue economic growth forever; that it should deviate quickly from such a course, in order to prevent global environmental disaster. But as much as I … Read more
The many ways in which mankind can produce natural compounds with biotechnology, impresses me. Smells, tastes, maybe texture in the near future, remember the synthetic burger, they are excellently produced by the bioreactor. One would expect that food industry would … Read more
A new sustainable initiative in Bristol, in the UK, uses bio-based materials to face the need for additional and affordable housing supply: bio homes. Bristol is at the forefront of high-tech innovation in the UK, and was the European green … Read more
Whereas some solar power projects are large-scale, covering entire fields, and other projects cover entire rooftops, solar power can also be used small-scale. Starting small is a good strategy for people who cannot afford big sized solar panels at once. … Read more