Small but powerful: how white biotech is building our future

Imagine: a small factory that emits no pollution, consumes no scarce raw materials, yet produces medicines, food, and materials. That factory already exists. It is microscopically small and alive; a micro-organism. In Delft, a growing group of scientists and entrepreneurs are working every day to answer the question: how can we deploy these tiny powerhouses to solve major problems?

What exactly is biotechnology?

Cindy Gerhardt, managing director of Planet B.io, explains it with infectious enthusiasm. She has worked for twenty years at the Biotech Campus Delft and has seen the sector grow with her own eyes. Biotechnology sounds complicated. But the idea behind it is surprisingly simple. The word is a contraction of biology and technology. "Biology has had nearly 4 billion years to develop incredibly strong and ingenious solutions to survive as efficiently as possible. If we can better understand those solutions, humanity can learn a great deal from them and apply this knowledge to make our production methods far more efficient—and also more sustainable."

Take cheese. To make cheese, you need rennet, a substance that causes milk to curdle. In the past, rennet was extracted from the stomachs of calves. This was neither efficient, animal-friendly, nor scalable. Now, micro-organisms produce the same rennet in a bioreactor: pure, safe, fast, and in large quantities. The same principle applies to insulin, antibiotics, and dozens of other substances we use daily.

Biotechnology is often divided into three categories. Red biotech focuses on health and pharmaceuticals, such as vaccines and medicines. Green biotech concerns plants, for example, tomatoes that are more resistant to drought. And then there is white biotech, also known as industrial biotechnology. This is the domain of Planet B.io and the Biotech Campus Delft.

White biotech: micro-organisms as production machines

White biotech revolves around micro-organisms. Think of bacteria, yeasts, and fungi. We use them because they are excellent miniature factories. They can naturally produce substances we need. And with a small adjustment, we can ‘teach’ them to make precisely what we want.

The production process is called fermentation, an age-old technology we know from beer, wine, and cheese production. "Micro-organisms are the very first life on Earth, and without them, we would not exist. They are perfectly suited as production factories because they grow on renewable raw materials, take up little space, emit little waste, and leave behind minimal waste."

The applications are surprisingly broad. At the Biotech Campus in Delft, companies are working on milk proteins without cows, biodegradable plastics for hospitals, sustainable fuels, and enzymes for detergents. What they have in common: they use micro-organisms in bioreactors instead of petroleum, coal mines, or livestock.

Delft: the cradle of industrial biotechnology

Delft holds a unique position in the global history of biotechnology. As early as the 17th century, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek here became the first person to look through a microscope at cells and micro-organisms. In 1869, the Netherlands’ first yeast factory was established in Delft. And in 1984, Delft-based Gist-Brocades became the first in the world to produce rennet using genetically modified baker’s yeast.

Today, thousands of products worldwide are produced using micro-organisms. And the Biotech Campus Delft remains the place where innovative solutions are developed and brought to market. On the 40-hectare site in the heart of the Randstad, around 1,200 people work on developing, scaling up, and marketing biobased innovations. There are now 34 companies, ranging from startups with one employee to internationally operating businesses. "We have gold in our hands here. We have the scientists, the major companies, the production capacity—all in one place, right in the heart of the Randstad."

The role of Planet B.io and the province

Planet B.io is an innovation ecosystem fully dedicated to growing the industrial biotechnology sector. We do this from our home base at the Biotech Campus Delft, where we provide labs and offices to biotech companies. We support this community by offering the right infrastructure and actively assisting their growth. We do this by providing an expanding network of experts, both in technology and commercialisation. Outside Delft, we act as an accelerator and connector, linking businesses with knowledge centres, investors, policymakers, and more. We work closely with our five partners: dsm-firmenich, the Province of South Holland, the Municipality of Delft, TU Delft, InnovationQuarter, and a.s.r. Dutch Science Park Fund.

The Province of South Holland is not only a co-founder of Planet B.io but also funds concrete projects for the community. For example, the EGGcellent project, which is developing a vegan alternative to chicken eggs for the baking industry, received a provincial grant of nearly one million euros. For Cindy Gerhardt, the province’s involvement is about more than just money: "We could never have built this without the support of the province. I am incredibly grateful for that." The province plays a unique role in Planet B.io: it connects public interests with private energy, ensures its policies align with strong innovation initiatives in our province, builds trust and stability through long-term involvement, and brings together parties that might otherwise work in silos.

Protein Port: protein transition as an opportunity for South Holland

White biotech directly addresses one of the greatest challenges of our time: the protein transition. The way we currently produce proteins is neither sustainable nor future-proof. We need a smarter approach—and that is precisely what Protein Port is working towards. This initiative, co-founded by the Province of South Holland, Planet B.io, and InnovationQuarter, focuses on strengthening South Holland’s ecosystem for alternative proteins. Protein Port concentrates on six areas: improving infrastructure and fermentation facilities in the region, finding and training talent, influencing regulations, increasing market acceptance, unlocking financing opportunities, and stimulating collaboration between researchers and businesses. In this way, Protein Port connects the biotech expertise of the Biotech Campus Delft with the province’s broader ambitions for sustainable food production.

The opportunities are there—but we must act now

Planet B.io demonstrates what is possible when government, science, and business work together. Young startups, often originating from TU Delft but increasingly from abroad, can set up shop from a single desk or share a lab. Major companies contribute their scaling and financing expertise. The province ensures continuity and connection. And at the heart of this ecosystem, ideas, encounters, and breakthroughs are flourishing.

But for the sector to truly thrive, more is needed. More space for production, better financing for scale-ups, faster and fairer regulations. And the trust of financiers, policymakers, and citizens that these tiny micro-organisms in bioreactors can produce our disposable gloves, meat, medicines, and fuel in a sustainable, safe, and pure way.

Cindy Gerhardt concludes with the same passion she brings to everything she says: "I am a biologist. I entered biotechnology out of my love for nature, for animals, plants, and biodiversity. When I see a way to produce in a circular and biobased manner, I will continue to advocate for this technology to take its rightful place in our production chain for as long as I can—and make the world just a little greener in the process."