In Japan, biotechnology firm bitBiome has partnered with an unnamed CMO for the manufacturing and supply of its enzymes, proteins and ingredients. bitBiome’s platform is built on their proprietary single-cell microbial genome analysis technology, bit-MAP®. Using bioinformatics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, bitBiome has used bit-MAP to create a comprehensive enzyme discovery and enzyme, pathway […]
In New Zealand, a startup called KiwiLeather Innovations is building a business converting rejected kiwifruit into a leather alternative. According to Fresh Plaza, over 50,000 tons of kiwifruit is deemed unfit for sale in New Zealand annually. KiwiLeather Innovations founder Shelley Jouston, inspired by similar fruit waste-to-leather projects in Europe, collaborated with Scion research to […]
In Indiana, UPSIDE Foods served cultivated chicken sandwiches during the recent Indianapolis 500 as it called the state’s upcoming ban on such products “un-American.” Indiana’s ban on cultivated meat sales is slated to begin July 1. According to CultivatedX, UPSIDE Foods said in a social media post that it is “here to defend your right […]
In California, MeliBio, a pioneer in bee-free food, has been acquired by Switzerland-based foodtech FoodYoung Labs for an undisclosed sum. MeliBio has earned global recognition as the creator of the world’s first plant-based honey, Mellody, which debuted at “buzzy”—and Michelin-star rated—Manhattan restaurant Eleven Madison Park. The deal includes MeliBio’s Mellody brand and its “Generation 1” […]
In South Korea, designers Zay Kim, Chaewon Lee, and Jungmin Park have created a biodegradable splint concept for birds injured in urban environments. Dubbed BirdAid, the splints are made from eggshell calcium, agar and potato starch. The calcium provides for bone recovery while the compositions of the other materials are calibrated to biodegrade at a […]
In California, a foodtech startup has reported progress scaling the production of cocoa using cellular agriculture. According to Green Queen, California Cultured has advanced from growing cocoa cells in a bench shake flask to growing them in bioreactors, with help from collaboration partner Pow.Bio. Founded in 2020, California Cultured isolates cocoa plant cells with the […]
In California, synthetic biology firm Amyris and food ingredient solutions firm Ingredion Incorporated have agreed to “wind down” their RealSweet joint venture. Formed in 2021, the JV focused on producing and commercializing fermented Reb M, a zero-calorie, high-intensity sweetener derived from stevia. As part of the agreement, Amyris will assume 100% ownership of the Precision […]
In Atlanta, paper cups lined with polyhydroxyalkanoate biopolymer are available at Walmart for the first time. Manufactured by WinCup, Inc. and sold under the brand name phade®, the hot beverage cup is lined with PHA rather than a plastic film, allowing it to quickly break down in the environment. The plastic lining in traditional paper […]
In Switzerland, researchers at Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) have created a biodegradable material from the mycelium of the split-gill mushroom. The living, plastic-like substance is flexible, tough, and edible, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional plastics. The innovation lies in preserving the biological activity of the mushroom’s mycelium during processing. […]
In Germany, researchers at the University of Bayreuth’s Biomaterials research group have used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology to create spiders that produce red fluorescent silk. Spider silk has long been of interest for numerous applications because it is extremely tear-resistant, elastic, lightweight, and biodegradable. In what may be the first work applying CRISPR-Cas9 to spiders, […]
