Before we look at what makes Novozymes a company to watch – it is helpful to understand the market transitions occuring in materials science and engineering that drive all major sectors from food to energy to pharmaceuticals.
An Era based Look at Industrialism:
Ores, Hydrocarbons & Semiconductors
The history of industrialism, and our ability to manipulate the interactions of molecules, can be viewed across several major era-based transitions.
The first industrialists used natural materials (dirt/clay, wood, stone), before turning to heat and reactive additives to transform ores into metals/alloys (copper/bronze/steel). In the 20th century we turned to modern chemistry and hydrocarbon resources to synthesize polymers/composites (plastics), and then new tools for layering/etching patterns to develop micro-structured semiconductor materials (silicon, et al).
Each era transition created new opportunities for wealth creation, justifications for using power and conflict, and forced us to redefine what is/isn’t a desirable resource. Today, we are witnessing two significant transitions in our industrial age…
From Micro- to Nano… From Chemical to Biological
The next eras of materials inspired industrialism will be based on nanostructured materials (particularly carbon-based materials), and biologically driven industrial processes. For now, let’s focus on ‘bio’…
By tapping the power of biological systems (e.g. genetics, proteins/enzymes, and metabolic pathways) biotechnology based industrial processes help to lower costs of production, reduce waste (inputs/outputs) and improve manufacturing yields.
Biotechnology based industrial processes give humanity a new way of manipulating the interactions of molecules by tapping billions of years of nature’s trial and error experiences. And while bioindustrialism does not signal the end of chemical engineering (it to has a bright future!), it certainly gives us a new platform for cheaper and cleaner materials manufacturing, energy production and waste processing.
We are still in the early stages of this transition, but in the world of bio industrial innovation one company stands out…
Why I have a man-crush on Novozymes!
Denmark-based Novozymes is a bioindustrial solutions company that develops enzymes, microorganisms and biomolecules (e.g recombinant DNA) used as ingredients in the manufacturing a wide range of everyday products that span all major industry sectors from consumer products, food, biofuels, to pharmaceuticals.
Founded in the 1920s (alongside Nordisk) Novozymes is the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes used in detergents, food, and animal feed products. But it is showing significant strength in growing its ‘biobusiness‘ solutions for biopharmaceutical, bioenergy and biowaste applications.
Novozyme Divisions: Novozymes Bioenergy; Novozymes BioPharma
Web Presence: Novozymes Blog! NovozymesTV; and yes they are on Twitter!
Related Terms:
Industrial Enzymes; Industrial Biotechnology; Bio Industrialism; Bio Refineries; Bioplastics; Biologics; Biomanufacturing; Bioreactors; Microbial Manufacturing; Proteomics; Protein Engineering; Biomimcry; Bio-utilization; Synthetic Biology
Novozymes Competitors / Biotechnology Industrial Companies:
- Genencor/Danisco
- DuPont’s ‘Renewably Sourced’ Materials
- BASF (Biotech)
- DSM
- Dyadic
- Dow Agro
- Codexis
- Cathay Biotech
- Excluding biopharma / biologics for now…!
- And I could also include dozens of algae/bacteria companies (e.g. Iogen; Mascoma; Synthetic Genomics, et al)– but we’ll save that for another post!
- Wikipedia list of biotechnology companies
Recent news…
- Novozyme’s enzymes can be used to turn waste biomass into liquid fuels and recently received a tax credit to launch an industrial enzyme plant in Nebraska.
- Novozymes and Braskem (Brazil) recently developed an alternative polypropylene used in a wide range of everyday plastics. Instead of producing polyproplene from oil, we might use sugarcane and other biomass material to create a ‘bioplastic‘.
- The company also announced the first paper waste to biofuel with partner Fiberite
Enzymes 101: Human vs Industrial Applications
The human body uses different types of protein enzymes to function in the world! Plants and animals also have enzymes that help to break down compounds into usable components.
Enzyme names usually include name of chemical being transformed than end with ~ase; hydrogenase ( lactase breakdown lactose; sucrase breakdown sugar; cellulase breakdown cellulose; hydrogen producing enzyme)
So someone who is lactose intolerant does not have lactase enzymes to breakdown dairy’s lactose molecules!)
But in most cases, these protein enzymes are breaking down compounds that consist of the same ingredients (carbon, hydrogen and oxygen) that are simply arranged in different chemical structures.
Industrial enzymes are proteins designed to facilitate better interactions of molecules. It’s that simple
Resources
- Learn more about enzymes here
- Learn more about bio industrial technology
Related Novozymes Videos
Adam Monroe, the President of Novozymes North America
Lars Hansen – Novozymes North America
Alan Shaw, President and CEO of Codexis, discusses how biotechnology is driving a new industrial revolution
If you made it this far… one last insight:
novo: Latin, meaning: to make anew, refresh, revive, change, alter, invent.
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