In the Netherlands, designer Dasha Tsapenko “grew” her wedding dress using mycelium and vintage linen lace sourced from Ukrainian flea markets. “I wanted to combine something traditional and handmade with innovative biotechnology,” she told Specialty Fabrics Review. “The growing process involved literally feeding the lace to the fungi by placing the deconstructed and sterilized lace […]
In Italy, a team from Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia has developed a biodegradable and biocompatible bandage using plant-based materials such as maize, pectin, and soy lecithin. When infused with Vitamin C, the bandage was shown to accelerate healing of superficial burns. Following a burn, the affected area typically undergoes redness and swelling. But excessive inflammation […]
In Switzerland, a startup is recreating the intensely umami flavor of truffles, a pricey fungi that is impossible to cultivate and so difficult to find specially trained dogs and pigs are required. Founded by professor and truffle expert Richard Splivallo, Nectariss is using fermentation to produce its truffle oil, which it sells under the brand […]
In California, Shiru is launching the world’s first marketplace and discovery platform for proteins. Dubbed ProteinDiscovery.ai, the platform allows users to search, discover, pilot, and buy molecules for food, agriculture, personal care, and advanced material applications. It is comprised of a searchable database that catalogs more than 33 million molecules by sequence, functional use, and […]
In Delaware, CovationBio has unveiled plans to expand capacity for biobased 1,3 propanediol at Loudon, TN by 33,000 metric tons, as it celebrates 20 years since the landmark facility’s ground-breaking. Currently, the plant has capacity to produce 77,000 metric tons. It was last expanded in 2019. “We’re excited to be part of this journey with […]
In Lima, Peru, designer Valeria Coello has reimagined bulky carboard packaging for TVs to become seating. She hopes the concept, which she calls Cuna, will offer a solution “that is as practical as it is environmentally friendly.” The seat is created from two sheets of cardboard joined by five additional pieces, no glue or screws […]
In South Carolina, Cambio Roasters is working to make wasteful but wildly popular single coffee pods, known as K cups, more sustainable. The brand first created pods made with just two materials—polypropylene and aluminum—to facilitate recycling. To these efforts it has added packaging for the K cups in biodegradable, molded pulp containers that act as […]
In Michigan, Chemovator, the business incubator and early-stage investor of BASF, has finalized an undisclosed investment in Heartland, a startup developing natural fiber plastic additives. Heartland’s hemp-based materials can be used as additives within plastic compounds. The innovation improves properties with regard to flammability, bonding, dispersion, and bulk density, which are historically associated with processing […]
In California, Dole Packaged Foods has partnered with circular design firm Rais Case and Ananas Anam, creator of pineapple-based textile Piñatex, to tackle pineapple industry waste. On Earth Day, the three companies unveiled a limited-edition Vida Bag made with Piñatex material sourced from Dole Philippines farms. “These types of collaborations like ours with Dole and […]
In Italy, a research project looking to grow cells from chicken feathers into chicken meat has concluded its first phase by generating a batch of cellular material ready for bioreactor scaling. The work is being conducted at University of Trento continue and is led by professors Luciano Conti and Stefano Biressi and researcher Nike Schiavo. […]
