Fungi waste treats water waste
Water pollution is a growing problem that affects both the environment and our health. Harmful chemicals like pesticides, medicines, PFAS and textile dyes are contaminating our water, leading to serious health issues such as cancer and high cholesterol. Traditional water treatment methods often struggle to remove these pollutants, and this is making clean water harder […]
Reduce and use landfill methane
Reduce and use landfill methane Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and about 20% of the emissions caused by humans originatefrom waste, such as landfills. Landfills containing organic matter produce methane-rich landfill gas over a long period of time, up to a hundred years. This landfill gas can be captured and channeled into electricity and […]
Biocircular Plastic Initiative
Ever thought your old bioplastic cup or t-shirt could be part of something bigger? Right now, most biodegradable plastics end up burned or composted, releasing CO2 into the air and missing their chance to shine. But, this bioplastic waste could become the start of something new—thanks to some incredible bacteria! At Wageningen University, we’ve developed […]
Shikimax
SHIKIMAX addresses the critical need for sustainability in the chemical industry, particularly in the production of aromatic compounds found in everyday products, from food additives to polymers. Traditional production methods of aromatics rely heavily on fossil fuels, resulting in substantial greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation. In response, we harness advanced metabolic engineering to develop […]
Glow-in-the-dark molecular diagnostics
Quantitative PCR (qPCR) is a versatile and sensitive diagnostic method that is the golden standard for DNA and RNA detection. However, qPCR requires expensive equipment, expert technicians and dedicated laboratory facilities, all leading to test times of multiple hours. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted both the strength of qPCR for infectious disease detection (ease of development, […]
Soil plant bioticum
The profound intensification of agricultural practices resulted in decreased soil health. In soil, microorganisms are crucial in ecosystem processes and are linked to soil and plant health and crop productivity. They facilitate nutrient uptake from soil to plants, augmenting plant growth and resilience to environmental stressors. The effort is therefore focused on steering soil microbial […]
AMOXENSE: Ammonia biosensing in wastewater treatment using bacteria
The goal of wastewater treatment is the conversion and removal of pollutants from water. Ammonium is one such pollutant which can be converted into harmless N2 by bacteria. However, at present, ammonium is often not fully converted into N2 in our wastewater treatment plants due to poor monitoring systems of the process of ammonium removal. […]
Evoducta
Many everyday products are produced through fermentation by microorganisms—some obvious, like the yoghurt you have for breakfast; others less obvious, like the citric acid in your favourite soda. The long list of industrial fermentation processes continues to grow for two key reasons: (1) They can produce complex substances that are otherwise difficult or impossible to […]
