The finest source of inspiration for the pharmaceuticals industry is neither costly chemistry laboratories nor scientific journals. It's actually Nature herself, in particular the wealth of species in the tropics, that gives scientists ideas for medicines and treatments. Read more
If oil belonged to the 20th century, it looks as if wood could be the raw material of the 21st century – as indeed it was in earlier times. Good news for a country that's more than half covered by forest. To get back to nature and replace plastics with paper and other wood-based materials we need a whole new kind of engineering. No wonder that protein engineering is a hot research field in a country like Sweden. Read more
Is there any point in trying to preserve all the Earth's biological species? Or are some more valuable than others? How can we decide? Modern molecular biology is a big help. Read more