For those living in the 19th century, it was by no means evident that we could use chemistry as a weapon against bacteria. Chemistry was a young science. It found its applications in polluting and dangerous industries. The mere idea … Read more
In 1913, Hugh Hampton Young returns to the US from the international medical conference in London, deeply impressed by Paul Ehrlich’s chemotherapy. Young works as a surgeon at the Brady urological institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Following Ehrlich’s … Read more
In 1890, Robert Koch appoints Paul Ehrlich his assistant. Although Ehrlich (1854-1915) is above all a medical doctor (together with Emil Adolf von Behring he develops a vaccine against diphtheria), he is primarily fascinated by chemistry. Project ‘100 years of … Read more
In a small clinical study conducted in April and May 2020, British scientists investigated the effect of inhalation of nebulised interferon-beta-1a (SNG001) on the development of COVID-19 in patients. The results are encouraging and justify further research. Lung infections Being … Read more
Animal tests are a controversial issue. On the one hand, many people object to actions that deliberately damage animal welfare. On the other hand, we need these tests in order to establish the safety of medicines and new materials; people … Read more
Plastic recycling has become a hot topic. The seriousness of plastic pollution has forced itself upon us. Industry, indeed the world, needs to close the plastic loop. But we don’t know how yet. Industry and policy makers will have to … Read more
A revolution has taken place in the construction industry: the development of mass timber, the technical term for industrial timber. It allows for the construction of innovative buildings. Mass timber as a construction material can now even outperform bricks, concrete … Read more
All over the world, antibiotics resistance increases. Overdose prescriptions are an important cause. And also the natural phenomenon of increasing resistance as the same medicine is being used for years at a stretch. The problem is severe in humane antibiotics … Read more
The solutions are here!, talking about major global problems. Solutions that exist already but are not generally applied. Or that are under severe and undeserved attack and therefore receive insufficient support. We have in mind: renewable energy and energy storage, … Read more
Researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a new technology for drinking-water production. They use metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that remove ions dissolved in salt or brackish water, producing potable water. The MOFs can be regenerated quickly, under the … Read more
This book is what a review should be all about: lengthy (365 pg), thorough, several tables and hundreds of references. Overall, this is a complete book on a highly relevant topic. Biostimulants: natural substances supporting vegetative growth, uptake of nutrients, … Read more
Mankind has known leather for about seven thousand years, now. Leather is durable and versatile. And biodegradable. But it is produced as a by-product of the meat industry, in a process with much environmental pollution. So here’s the good news … Read more
Much excitement in the universe of battery technology. Battery storage is rapidly growing world-wide, important for the energy transition. Batteries are improving and their costs are falling, all the time. And the million-mile battery might be coming soon. Meaning that … Read more
Food loss and waste currently causes an estimated $1 trillion in economic losses globally each year, according to Lux Research, a Boston-based tech and advisory company. This constitutes not just an economic crisis but also a major humanitarian one. It … Read more
The major pharmaceutical industry (big pharma) is going through a difficult time. Industry needs to come on track again. Can the new superpowers India and China lead the way? This is the second of four articles on the pharmaceutical industry. … Read more
Major pharmaceutical companies (big pharma) are having a difficult time. Shareholders complain about falling profit margins; governments, insurance companies and patients complain about sky-high medicine prices. Industry should find a new direction – but which one? This is the first … Read more
Biobased Press published its manifesto ‘Waltzing with Nature’ on May 1, 2020. In this manifesto, we testify to the importance of science for solving mankind’s major global problems. Like global heating, plastic littering everywhere, insect decline, nutritional diseases because … Read more
Frances Arnold won the 2018 chemistry Nobel prize for her research on directed evolution. Directed evolution speeds up nature’s variation and selection process, and researchers use it to find the best enzymes for industrial applications. As Arnold summed it up: … Read more
Recently, Knowable Magazine devoted an article to the question how far conventional agriculture is on the way to becoming more sustainable. The problem is: conventional agriculture pollutes too much (fertilizer runoff, toxic pesticides). But organic agriculture produces too little, meaning … Read more
Quietly, industry is perfecting the art of using mycelium as a construction material. Mycelium is the invisible part of mushrooms: their ‘roots’ that consist of minuscule threads called hyphae. There is just one disadvantage to mycelium as a construction material: … Read more
Whereas the artificial hamburger has been launched with a lot of fuss a few years ago, artificial seafood has been developed in relative quiet. But it may come to the market much sooner. Texture and taste seem to be good, … Read more
Chemical and Engineering News recently ran an article that sheds light on the importance of traditional Chinese medicine for modern scientific development. Traditional treatments inspire the discovery of insecticides and antimalarial drugs. Useful symbiotic microorganisms The herb Stemona sessilifolia has … Read more
Reading the book Naturally! Of course. How nature always keeps surprising us (in Dutch) by Alle Bruggink and Diederik van der Hoeven was a great pleasure to me. Even stronger, I studied it with great interest. Almost all subjects have … Read more
Resistance to antibiotics is a growing problem; and yet, the development of new antibiotics stagnates. Why? Don’t we need new antibiotics, on second thoughts? Or does industry judge that new developments will not earn them enough money? New antibiotics from … Read more
Antibiotics resistance of harmful organisms becomes a major problem – in agriculture, in human and veterinary medicine. Scientists now try to come up with new methods. They think that CRISPR (discovered less than 10 years ago) might be a solution. … Read more
Quickly, the world gets critical of plastic waste. It litters land, waterways and oceans. Until quite recently, rich countries could export their waste to poorer countries – for them to sort out the difficult tail of consumer society. But since … Read more
When researchers discovered the CRISPR-Cas mechanism, it was looked upon as the perfect instrument for genetic modification (GM). But it appears to have its flaws. Flaws that might be inherent to life and to nature as such. This is a … Read more
The Dutch Cabinet has determined missions to tackle major societal issues, and Dutch knowledge sectors are currently drawing up Knowledge and Innovation Agendas on how to support the realisation of these missions. I just finished reading the joint innovation agenda … Read more
Evolved by Nature has developed pure liquid silk; properly speaking: silk in solution. This substance will enable yarns to be covered with silk. They will then have the properties that lend such an exquisite quality to silk: soft on the … Read more
Science rests on reductionism: the reduction of complex issues to digestible bits. From there, researchers try to piece together the bigger picture. But in the life sciences we now see a movement towards holism: the concept that life’s manifestations can … 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 not be able to consume our average diet of 20 … 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 genetic modification, and the future of agriculture. Organized by BIO, … 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 and pleasure in horticulture. Because we believe that improvement and innovation … 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 is our mission, and we will execute it. Far too … 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, in cisgenesis from a plant with which the acceptor plant … 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 can be processed to fuels and chemicals, with CO2 and … 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 a conference program with some 60 speakers. Rotterdam Ahoy will … 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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