The start-up Waste Lab, Poland has been successful in converting beet pulp into tableware, packaging, and other products.
Yeast metabolically engineered to produce the medicinal tropane alkaloids [Full subscriber]
Researchers at Stanford University report the first successful microbial biosynthesis of the tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine and scopolamine, a class of neuromuscular blockers naturally found in plants in the nightshade family.
Fabricating leather-like materials from fungi [Registered]
Fungi-derived leather substitutes are an emerging class of ethically and environmentally responsible fabrics that are increasingly meeting consumer aesthetic and functional expectations and winning favour as an alternative to bovine and synthetic leathers. An international team of researchers from the University of Vienna, Imperial College London, and RMIT University in Australia demonstrate the considerable potential of these renewable sustainable fabrics derived from fungi in their recent review article in Nature Sustainability.
Producing useful chemicals from lignocellulosic feedstock via novel consolidated bioprocessing [Full subscriber]
Researchers from the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH), the University of Cambridge, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have developed a novel consolidated bioprocessing lactate platform to produce a variety of useful chemicals from lignocellulose feedstock.
Plantain fibres effective in reducing carbon fibre use in the production of composite materials for the car industry [Full subscriber]
Carbon fibre has long been touted for its incredible material properties, including being extremely durable and lightweight at the same time. But while these properties are precisely what car manufacturers are looking for in material for building cars, carbon fibre is very expensive to make. Researchers from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa have discovered that combining natural plantain fibres with carbon nanotubes and epoxy resin form a promising natural fibre-reinforced polymer hybrid nanocomposite material.
Novvi commences production of plant sugars based base oils and process oils [Full subscriber]
Novvi LLC recently announced the successful start-up of its Deer Park, Texas plant, where it is manufacturing and marketing 100% biobased base oils for the lubricants industry, and 100% biobased process oils for polymer, adhesives, and personal care industries.
E. coli engineered to produce adipic acid from guaiacol [Full subscriber]
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have engineered E. coli to produce the platform chemical adipic acid used in nylon manufacturing.
Algae-based biodegradable flip-flops – eco-friendly and fashionable [Full subscriber]
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have formulated polyurethane foams, made from algae oil, to meet commercial specifications for biodegradable midsole shoes and the foot-bed of flip-flops which they say will address plastic waste that ends up in landfills, on seashores and in our oceans.
Australia’s The Product Makers launches sugarcane extract boasting health benefits [Full subscriber]
Australian food flavouring company The Product Makers (TPM) has launched sugarcane extract Phytolin.
Bacterial enzymes exploited to synthesize complex diterpenes normally made by plants [Full subscriber]
Chemists at Scripps Research have efficiently created three families of complex, oxygen-containing molecules that are normally obtainable only from plants.
Monthly Snapshot
Market Overview Raw sugar futures in New York October finished at 13.24 cents/lb on 19th August. The market climbed to a five-month high of 13.28 cents on 14th August. It is apparent that the current bullish trend is driven by […]
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