Helikon Authored
Chitin: Providing Structure and Biofunction to Cell-Cultured Meat
Chitosan is an FDA-approved ingredient that has a foundational role in science in medicine. Chitosan scaffolds are highly biocompatible and do not affect cellular behavior. Chitosan may become an industry favorite as it is cheap to harvest and easy to use. On the other hand, Chitosan is highly inert as cells are unable to bind or adhere to it. Creative applications of existing technologies to chemically modify chitosan can improve its properties as a biomaterial and ultimately pave the way for structured meat products rich in fiber.
Climate
Accounting for Climate Change
As climate change becomes more pronounced, companies ask the question - how do we account for climate change?
It’s Time to Give Companies Standalone Climate Ratings
Many organizations provide ratings (MSCI, Sustainalytics, ISS-ESG), although they typically do not agree. Climate Ratings can be strategically used to assess the impact companies have on the climate. Experts wonder how we can make ratings more specific to climate.
Plants and Fungi
When Fashion is Fungal - Textiles have a big carbon footprint and then clog landfills when discarded. Could biodegradable clothes be a solution?
MycoWorks feeds agricultural waste such as sawdust to ganoderma, a wood-eating fungus species, to coax it to grow mycelium cells in a dense, intertwined structure. Bolt makes microsilk from bioengineered spider silk. "“When I started looking into how spiders make silk,” said Breslauer, “it turned out that they had this little microscale glandulature that secreted this protein that turned from a liquid into a fiber.” describes David Breslaur.
How a fungus shapes biotechnology: 100 years of Aspergillus niger research - Fungal Biology and Biotechnology
Aspergillus niger is just hitting the precision fermentation scene, but as the workhorse of the modern biotechnology industry, but it has been around for over 100 years - systems biology and genome editing are taking it to the next level.