In Belgium, a meat alternative startup is expanding its product R&D efforts from the more conventional beef, chicken, pork and lamb varieties to wooly mammoths burgers. Paleo says it has been able to make a new protein by analyzing DNA of woolly mammoths, which roamed the earth from the Pleistocene era—over 2 million years ago—to […]
In the Netherlands, Fooditive has begun developing bee-free honey using DNA from honey and fermentation enzymes. The company says its faux honey has the same taste, texture and color as the real thing, and trials are set to begin next year. Being a “busy bee” of a company, honey is just the start for Fooditive. […]
In Massachusetts, bioplastics producer CJ Bio says it has signed a memorandum of understanding with hospitality giant Accor—owner of such brands as ibis, Sofitel, and Novotel—to develop biodegradable packaging material based on polyhydroxyalkanoates for hotel amenities that use single-use plastics. The MOU will help Accor deliver on its commitment to phase out all single-use plastic […]
In Singapore, agribusiness major ADM and Asia Sustainable Foods Platform have inaugurated their ScaleUp Bio Joint Venture, which will provide contract development and manufacturing operations for precision fermentation for food applications. ScaleUp Bio already has a multi-year partnership with A*STAR’s Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation to establish a joint lab focused on precision […]
In Australia, cultivated milk and plant-based protein startup All G Foods has raised $25 million in a Series A financing. Led by Agronomics Limited and its affiliate investment vehicle New Agrarian Company, the funding is part of an oversubscribed round that will accelerate commercialization of both cellular agriculture and plant-based products in All G Foods’ […]
In Ontario, Genecis Bioindustries Inc. has raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures and BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice. The round includes participation from Gullspang Re:food, with returning investors such as AME Cloud Ventures, IT Farm, and Heinz Group. Genecis has also secured a $3 million credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank, […]
In Germany, chemical maker BASF has announced a collaboration in which design house Maddy Plant developed a concept shoe made entirely from BASF sustainable materials. Dubbed MADGAMMA – Intertekk Saturn, the shoes use biobased Elastollan® polyurethane in the midsoles, shanks, and outsoles. The shoe also features an upper made from 100% recyclable monofilament fiber Freeflex™ […]
In the United Kingdom, a startup developing fermentation-based alternatives to palm oil hopes to begin sales in 2023. Palm oil is used across numerous products in food, cosmetics, and biofuels, but despite being renewable it is often linked to extensive deforestation and further threat to endangered species. Despite this, the palm oil market is forecast […]
In Australia, the Michael Lett Gallery has a unique “sculpture” for sale—a pickle from a McDonald’s burger artist Matthew Griffin stuck to the gallery’s ceiling. On sale for NZD 10,000 (USD$6,300), the work, entitled “Pickle,” is related to a broader gallery exhibition on “transience, distance, and time,” according to Design Boom. Griffin’s representative, Ryan Moore […]
In Houston, researchers at Rice University have created a new field of research—dubbed necrobotics—with the invention of a dead spider claw machine. In a paper published in Advanced Science, the team describes using a dead wolf spider to pick up small objects. Essentially, they superglued a dead spider to a syringe and puffed air through […]
