Grower of wood from stem cells New Dawn Bio settles in Wageningen
New Dawn Bio is setting up at the Business & Science Park on the Wageningen Campus. The startup grows wood from tree stem cells in its laboratory. This means that in the future fewer trees will have to be cut down for wood production. In cooperation with Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and Kadans Science, Oost NL supported the company in its search for suitable office and laboratory space
Wood from the lab
Tom Clement, founder/CEO: "Every year, we lose 5.3 million hectares of tropical rainforest to deforestation while forests are the world's second-largest CO2 consumers after the ocean. Meanwhile, demand for wood is rising. We aim to replace wood that cannot be sustainably harvested with wood grown from cells, locally, anywhere in the world. Wood from the lab, rather than from the forest. This also creates new opportunities: because this wood can grow into specific shapes, we can make finished products such as table or kitchen tops without sawing or gluing."
Leading international location
Tom Clement: "Oost NL helped us find laboratory space. We rent our facilities from Hudson River Biotechnology, plant biology and genetics experts. We also exchange knowledge with them. We chose this location for a reason; there are companies here that we can learn a lot from."
Angelique van Helvoort, Food advisor at Oost NL: "New Dawn Bio grows cells to make wood. Wageningen is the perfect place for that. The Foodvalley region, around Ede and Wageningen, is an international leader in innovations in agri and food. Raw materials, such as wood, are in limited supply. The development of New Dawn Bio is a great solution."
