Click here to read Prof. Wim Soetaert ‘s last column, published in Petrochem 09-2019.

Biobased Surfactants: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications, Second Edition, covers biosurfactant synthesis and applications and demonstrates how to reduce manufacturing and purification costs, impurities, and by-products. Fully updated, this book covers surfactants in biomedical applications, detergents, personal care, food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and nanotechnology. It reflects on the latest developments in biobased surfactant science and provides case Read more about Check our new book chapter in ‘Biobased Surfactants – 2nd Edition’[…]

Have you ever asked what “biobased” means or wondered about the key aspects in developing and commercializing biobased products? This course will answer those questions and more; highlighting the opportunities, hurdles, and driving forces of the bioeconomy. Enroll now on the MOOC on ‘Biobased Products for a Sustainable (Bio)economy’!

  In this article, the production of biosurfactant sophorolipids from several (food) waste streams was investigated, using the non-pathogenic yeast Starmerella bombicola. From a preliminary screening, restaurant food waste emerged as the most suitable feedstock compared to bakery waste, textile waste, used corn oil, animal fat and lipid fraction of hydrolyzed food waste. Restaurant food Read more about Article: Efficient sophorolipids production using food waste[…]

  We have the pleasure to invite you to the lecture “Hunting for antibiotics and anticancer compounds made by bacteria”. Microorganisms have provided humankind with a vast array of natural products with invaluable applications in medicine and agriculture. The advent of widespread genome sequencing has shown that bacteria have the genetic potential to make many Read more about Lecture June 27th: “Hunting for antibiotics and anticancer compounds made by bacteria”[…]

Duesseldorf, 09 April 2019 Last week the partners of the BIG-Cluster project CROSSBEE – Cross-border Bio-Economy Education – met for a final project meeting to evaluate the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) ever produced by a consortium of nine partners. The partners from the Belgium region of Flanders, the Netherlands and the German state Read more about Massive Open Online Course on Biobased Materials produced by nine partners successfully finished[…]

Our newest article in ‘Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology’ describes the development, optimization, and application of a more throughput technique—based on 24-deep well plates— for a new Starmerella bombicola strain producing bolaform sophorolipids.Find out more right here!

We have the pleasure to invite you to a talk given by Prof. John Morrissey, senior lecturer in Microbiology and leader of a research group in Yeast Biotechnology at University College Cork. Prof. Morrissey currently coordinates two large multi-partner EU-funded H2020 projects – CHASSY and YEASTDOC and was recently (2019) appointed Editor in Chief of Read more about Talk on sugar transporters in Kluyveromyces yeasts by Prof. John Morrissey – Register now![…]

Many bacterial pathogens attach to biomaterials such as catheters, and grow to form biofilms. These surface-associated multicellular communities cause infections that are difficult to eradicate. Antiadhesion therapy represents an attractive alternative to antibiotics to prevent and treat biofilm infections. Using single-cell experiments, we show that glycolipids feature unusual high-efficiency and broad-range antiadhesive properties against Gram-positive Read more about New article in Nanoscale Horizons![…]

On Tuesday 5th February prof. Soetaert participated in the session “Developing sustainable markets: the role of the circular economy in the EU” at the EU Industry Days 2019, organised by the European Bioeconomy Alliance (Brussels). The debate circled around the challenges and opportunities of a full uptake of the bioeconomy in Europe, where prof. Soetaert Read more about EU Industry Days 2019 @ Brussels[…]