You better be-leaf it: Dawn Bio cultivates wood in a petri dish

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In the Netherlands, a startup based at Wageningen University’s campus is pioneering technology to produce wood from cultured cells.

Dubbed Dawn Bio, the company has so far used its process to create wood samples from six tree species. The largest sample was about the size of a postage stamp.

“If we can make wood without growing trees, we can stop problematic deforestation and human rights violations,” said Dawn Bio founder Tom Clement. “The idea is that we will soon be able to build materials with substances that we have complete control over. For example, if you add more xylem than fibers, the material becomes lighter. This means that we are fully in charge of the process. We can then make wood that is hard to come by, or that doesn’t even exist in nature.”