Category: Chemicals & Materials

Let them eat macarons: Animal-free egg whites to debut in demanding baking application

Let them eat macarons: Animal-free egg whites to debut in demanding baking application

March 28, 2022 |

In San Francisco, precision fermentation firm The EVERY Co. has unveiled animal-free egg whites and will soon prove their alternative’s “whipping and gelling” properties versus regular eggs via a partnership with a noted macaron maker.  According to The EVERY Co., EVERY EggWhite has the same height, foam stability, aeration and texture. Chantal Guillon, a San […]

Read More

Bee-free honey maker generates buzz with $7.5 million fundraise

Bee-free honey maker generates buzz with $7.5 million fundraise

March 21, 2022 |

In San Francisco, bee-free honey startup MeliBio has raised $7.5 million to scale and commercialize its technology.  The company uses precision fermentation and plant science to manufacture honey. “We know that science can produce delicious and nutritious honey, which is molecularly identical to traditional honey, at no cost to our precious bees,” says honey industry […]

Read More

Rabbis okay cheeseburgers from cultivated meat

Rabbis okay cheeseburgers from cultivated meat

March 21, 2022 |

In Israel, a group of rabbis has said cheeseburgers made from lab-grown meat is kosher, having determined that the nascent technology does not constitute real meat.   Kosher rules ordinarily prohibits the pairing of any meat and dairy product. World Israel News reports that it was determined that products based on cows’ pre-embryonic cells and grown […]

Read More

Hindu festival of color gets greener

Hindu festival of color gets greener

March 21, 2022 |

In India, this year’s Holi celebrations were as colorful as ever, but at the same time greener, thanks to Phool.co. The Kampur-based startup is converting floral waste into the vibrant gulaal powders festival-goers toss about during the festival to celebrate the arrival of spring.  “Generally, gulaal is made using asbestos even glass all those chemical […]

Read More

German startup targeting cultivated schnitzel by 2025

German startup targeting cultivated schnitzel by 2025

March 21, 2022 |

In Germany, cultivated meat startup Alife Foods hopes to launch a lab-grown version of schnitzel by 2025.  Alife is currently doing “sensory evaluations” for its animal-free schnitzel, which contains cultivated beef, wheat protein, wheat flour, vegetable oil and methylcellulose and was developed in collaboration with Fuchs Group and US-based LabFarmFoods. Notably, Alife is using plant-based […]

Read More

Dell explores dissolvable circuit boards in laptops 

Dell explores dissolvable circuit boards in laptops 

March 21, 2022 |

In Texas, Dell Technologies has launched a prototype laptop featuring biobased components as it looks to increase product content and packaging from recycled or renewable materials as one lever for cutting emissions in half by 2030.  The prototype is part of Concept Luna, a “parallel innovation workstream” with Intel aimed at accelerating circular design in […]

Read More

Genomatica and Asahi Kasei partner on biobased nylon 6,6

Genomatica and Asahi Kasei partner on biobased nylon 6,6

March 21, 2022 |

In San Diego, Genomatica has announced a partnership with Japan’s Asahi Kasei, which aims to use Genomatica’s GENO HMD process to manufacture biobased hexamethylenediamine for production of nylon 6,6 for automotive and electronics industries.  The pact comes shortly after Genomatica announced in January that, together with German chemical company Covestro, it had produced “significant” volumes […]

Read More

Plant-based asphalt startup tells carbon to hit the road

Plant-based asphalt startup tells carbon to hit the road

March 21, 2022 |

In Norway, a startup has developed a road repair process that uses recycled asphalt and a proprietary plant-based adhesive that sequesters carbon, offering a greener alternative for the particularly polluting road construction market.  The company—appropriately named Carbon Crusher—starts by grinding up existing asphalt from stretches of road in need of repair. This reduces the emissions […]

Read More

Rice-based resin used to make furniture in Japan

Rice-based resin used to make furniture in Japan

March 21, 2022 |

In Japan, furniture company Meuble has partnered with two chemical companies to develop a resin material from non-edible rice that would otherwise be thrown away.  Dubbed RICEWAVE, the material was conceived when Meuble, Biomass Resin Holdings, and Mitsui & Co Plastics Ltd. set out to create a renewable alternative to polyethylene.  “We have been thinking […]

Read More

Now that’s romantic: Hidden Valley commissions lab-grown diamond from ranch seasoning

Now that’s romantic: Hidden Valley commissions lab-grown diamond from ranch seasoning

March 14, 2022 |

In California, Hidden Valley has unveiled a lab-grown diamond from its ranch seasoning mix. The two-carat stone—conceived to celebrate National Ranch Day on March 10—is being auctioned off to benefit Feeding America.  To create the diamond, geologist Dean VandenBiesen heated ranch seasoning—which is comprised of ingredients like maltodextrin, buttermilk, and dried onion and garlic—to 2,500 […]

Read More