Nature as a guiding principle
The Waltzing with Nature manifesto is a logical sequel to the recent books by the authors, Alle Bruggink and Diederik van der Hoeven. Particularly to their latest book Naturally! Of course. How nature keeps surprising us (in Dutch). A surprising book that I reviewed extensively and positively. In April, the authors sent me the draft
Consequences of the Novacene
In the 100th year of his life, James Lovelock wrote an important book: Novacene, The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence. A book that astonishes by the broad view of the author. And that calls for dissent through its consequent logic. A book review drenched in respect and horror. Of course, James Lovelock is the man of
Covid-19: take care of each other
At present, the world is under the spell of a new influenza virus, Covid-19. One region after another goes into complete lockdown; in particular to prevent the virus to spread with such speed that hospitals would be overburdened. The virus is particularly contagious as this viral species is new; people have not yet had the
Do not avoid risks, but contain them
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 development is hampered by risk aversion, learning to identify and manage risks better is a necessity. I read a striking comment by CNN’s Chris Cillizza
Insects are in decline, around the world. How worried should we be?
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 article was originally published on the site of Ensia. When Susan Weller travelled to Ecuador to study tiger moths in the 1980s, she found plenty
Engineering life will require responsibility and control
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: responsibility and control. An almost impossible task, but one that we will have to face squarely. The answers will determine our future. This is the
Modern biotechnology: does it develop too fast?
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 human domain, is getting too wide. In fact, we even don’t know how to wage
In memory of Wijnand Schonewille
We met Wijnand Schonewille many times at biobased economy conferences – we, the late Paul Reinshagen and I. And we talked, because Wijnand had refreshing ideas and innovative views. He passed away last week, in the age of 58. He leaves a wife and two children. Wijnand started writing for Biobased Press, as he did
on: 13 June 2020