Director of Bioeconomy visits Danish Cornerstones in the Future Bioeconomy

Following her active participation in the "Bioeconomy in Action" Conference hosted by the Danish Ministry of Science Innovation and Higher Education, the EU Director of Bioeconomy Maive Rute paid a visit to Center for Synthetic Biology and Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (NNFCB) on the 28th of March. 

The day commenced at the Center for Synthetic Biology's secretariat at University of Copenhagen's LIFE faculty, where the Director met with the Head of the Center and Scientific Director of NNFCB Birger Lindberg Møller,  the Director of Research and Innovation at University of Copenhagen Anna Haldrup, the Dean of the Faculty of Science Niels Elers Koch and the Prodean for Research at Faculty of Science Erik Bisgaard Madsen. Maive Rute was accompagnied by Eveline Lecoq, Research Programme Officer for Biotechnology. Presentations of the Center and it's research were given by Professor Lindberg Møller and several other of the Center's researchers. The last session at University of Copenhagen was devoted to the translational value of synthetic biology research seen from the industry point of view. This talk was lead by Jørgen Hansen, Head of Research at one of Denmark's leading synthetic biology enterprises, Evolva A/S. 

Jørgen Hansen, Professor Møller and other Center for Synthetic Biology representatives accompanied Mrs. Rute and Lecoq to NNFCB in Hørsholm, where provost of DTU Henrik C. Wegener and COO Bo Skjold Larsen gave introductions to the applied bioscience and tech transfer focus of NNFCB. CTO Jochen Förster and Dr. Markus Herrgard gave examples of different areas of expertise within the center, while Mr. Thomas Grotkjær from market leader Novozymes A/S presented his company's plans for utilizing cell factories for second generation biorefineries. 

This concluded a day that effectively gave an impression of the formidable knowledge and expertise that exist in the Copenhagen area. The work taking place in both of these institutions are likely to play an important role in a shift towards a more sustainable biobased society.