In Asia, banana leaves were always used for food packaging. But they quickly deteriorate. They have been overtaken by plastics, that now often clog the waterways and pollute the oceans. … Read more
Pesticide resistance is a brand new phenomenon, historically speaking. It was first reported in 1914, just a century ago. A result of chemical, and later biotechnological methods of pest control. … Read more
Researchers do not apply genetic modification just to microorganisms and plants. Animals are genetically modified as well, we will treat this in the articles of Essay 5. With regards to … Read more
Am I mistaken, or is there really a gradual shift taking place among opinion leaders in favour of genetic modification? Or is it just my perception that changes? Meaning: do … Read more
The bioeconomy may be dominated by plant-based processes, but the role of animals in the bioeconomy is also notable. This article was first published on the site of NNFCC. In … Read more
The strongest natural material ever found is part of, surprisingly, a mollusc. Its name is Patella vulgata, or in everyday language, the common limpet. An edible sea snail found all … Read more
Fish farming is increasingly important. More than half of the fish consumed by mankind is farmed fish already, and its share is on the rise. Without fish farming, we would … Read more
Over the past ten years, the methane level in the atmosphere has risen to unexpected highs. Methane gas, CH4, is a 25 times times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon … Read more
At the moment, the Netherlands suffer from the oak processionary. Or, as one commentator put it: it has been causing a lot of trouble over the past few years, but … Read more
Bitumen is a by-product of oil production and is used to bind the surfaces of paved roads. Some researchers, concerned about its environmental impacts and future supply if petroleum refining … Read more
In comparison to wood, tree bark is a very versatile resource. It consists of several layers, each with their products. It contains anti-microbial and anti-oxidant compounds that could be used … Read more
Eco-friendly personal care is one of the topics in the coming BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology in Des Moines, Iowa, July 8-11. Other topics include of course biotechnology and … Read more
Medical and recreational cannabis is becoming big business, according to Lux Research, a Boston-based international research company. The size of the cannabis market in the Americas is $ 12 billion … Read more
A month ago, May 2019, a UN agency with the awkward acronym IPBES published a report on nature decline. It tells us: ‘nature and its vital contributions to people, which … Read more
In September 2016, Henk Kamp, then Minister of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands, opened Upcycling Gemert, a plant that processes mushroom waste into compost, fuel and heat. Only two weeks … Read more
GreenTech 2019 is the major horticultural fair, to be held June 11-13 in Amsterdam. As they say themselves: ‘GreenTech 2019 brings people and technology together to increase growth, productivity, sustainability, inspiration … Read more
The past World Bio Markets Conference in Amsterdam proved an interesting happening, not so much because of what was said, but more explicitly because of what was not dealt with. … Read more
Photosynthesis is one of the most important biological processes on earth, if not the most important one: no life without photosynthesis! The Rubisco enzyme plays a key role in this … Read more
The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking, BBI JU, one of seven JUs under the Horizon2020 program, recently published their next Call for Proposals, the sixth one on the path towards 2020. … Read more
Solutions for global problems tend to become part of a compromise, says Huub de Groot. He is a professor in biophysical organic chemistry at Leiden University and works, among others, … Read more
As the debate on the energy transition heats up, stakeholders now retreat on their original positions, after a phase in which they politely listened to each other. Some call for … Read more
‘With our trade of indoor farming, we would like to contribute to the solution of global food problems,’ says Marc Kreuger of the Dutch company Seven Steps To Heaven. ‘That … Read more
In cisgenesis, we insert new DNA in a stable form into plant DNA, just like in transgenesis. The difference being that in transgenesis, the new DNA originates from another species, … Read more
World Wildlife Fund and plant-based food and drink producer Alpro published a report on how companies can reduce their environmental footprints. They go beyond general sustainability principles and address more … Read more
Through biosolar cells, researchers try to improve photosynthesis, the process through which plants, algae and some bacteria capture sunlight. The product of such ‘artificial leaves’ is hydrogen for instance, that … Read more
Bringing nature back into cities, in the form of trees, can help fight global warming. Climate change is the challenge of the century. The last UN Environment Emissions Gap Report … Read more
CCU, the process to capture carbon dioxide and upcycle it to valuable fuels, chemicals and materials, may become very important this century. CCU kerosene may be much better than biobased … Read more
The urgency of effective political action on the energy transition lies close to my heart. We should reduce the use of fossil fuels at the shortest notice possible. I feel … Read more
It may take a long time before wind turbines will actually generate energy, even in a ‘technical landscape’, as our editor Paul Reinshagen called the Dutch province of Flevoland, an … Read more
The use of microalgae for water purification is not widespread. Yet, they are very well capable of doing so, says Paul Hamm. Twenty-five years ago, he was involved as an … Read more
Brexit and The Wall not only generate news. These issues also provide for interesting comments that ultimately can apply to other, or much broader, areas like the bio-economy. Where continuous … Read more
MaterialDistrict Rotterdam, the yearly exposition and conference on new materials, has 140 exhibitors this year, 200 new materials, presentations by 100 front-runner start-ups & designers, and op top of that … Read more
The world runs into planetary boundaries, or has transgressed them already. The three main problems can all be alleviated by a more efficient agriculture. Being: emission of greenhouse gases, excess … Read more
In September 2018, the Dutch minister for agriculture Carola Schouten announced that circular agriculture will become her main policy goal. Circular agriculture, also known as low external input farming, is … Read more
Widely reported studies this year and last led to headlines globally of an ‘insect Armageddon.’ The real story of insects is more nuanced — but probably just as unsettling. This … Read more
Hydrogen has a high energy content (120-142.9 MJ/kg); it is a clean energy carrier and can replace fossil fuels. Hydrogen is already a fuel of choice for space programs; it … Read more
The quest for engineering life is an infinite ‘marketplace’ for science, commerce and society. They are the very stakeholders that will have to decide on the rules of the game: … Read more
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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … Read more