About the Potential and Importance of White Biotechnology

Why is it better to grow microbes than livestock? That question was asked recently to Wim Soetaert, professor of industrial biotechnology at Ghent University and an authority on bio-based products and processes. He is also the founder of InBio.be, a centre for industrial biotechnology and biocatalysis, and director of Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, a state-of-the-art facility bridging the gap between scientific development and industrial application of innovative biobased products.

Wim Soetaert previously worked for thirteen years in carbohydrate processing in Germany and France at sugar group Pfeifer & Langen and wheat processing company Chamtor, respectively. Today, as a lecturer in microbiology, industrial biotechnology and industrial fermentation processes & downstream processing at Ghent University, he enthuses his students about the potential and importance of white biotechnology. And with Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, he supports The ProteInn Club, which facilitates and aims to accelerate the development of a unique ecosystem around fermentation-based proteins.

Because to answer the question above, we can get the same necessary proteins from microbes as from, say, chicken or veal, and consequently also significantly reduce the ecological footprint of the food industry.