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Egg white protein produced by precision fermentation has excellent foaming properties. Credit: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland The research by the Future Sustainable Food Systems research group at the University of Helsinki together with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland shows that fungus-produced ovalbumin could have the potential to mitigate part of the environmental burden associated with chicken egg white powder. This is especially true when using low carbon energy sources in the production. Chicken egg white powder is a commonly used ingredient in the food industry due to the high-quality protein it contains. The yearly consumption of egg...

Finland has developed a new technology for producing a renewable hydrocarbon. The process has the potential to shakeup the global energy industry — if it moves beyond the experimental stage. Piloted by a consortium of energy players working with the Lappeenranta University of Technology and the state research agency VTT, the Soletair project has generated a great deal of international interest. Hydrocarbons are among the world’s most important compounds, as they are refined into fuels for use in cars, ships and aircraft. They are also used in the production of plastics.

The Electric Bioreactor Farm Finnish researchers have created a batch of single-cell protein that is nutritious enough to serve for dinner using a system powered by renewable energy. The entire process requires only electricity, water, carbon dioxide, and microbes. The synthetic food was created as part of the Food From Electricity project, which is a collaboration between Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. After exposing the raw materials to electrolysis in a bioreactor, the process forms a powder that consists of more than 50 percent protein and 25 percent carbohydrates — the texture...

The BIOCOUP project structure and different steps of the processing route. Click to enlarge. A European research consortium is working to develop a process to allow a range of different biomass feedstocks to be co-fed to a conventional oil refinery to produce renewable fuels and oxygenated chemicals. The overall objective of the five-year BIOCOUP Integrated Project, which is sponsored by the European Commission and coordinated by Finland’s VTT, is to upgrade biomass-derived liquids to make them suitable for refinery co-processing. A secondary objective is the separation of valuable chemicals from biomass and biomass–derived liquids prior to the upgrading. The consortium...

Ex nihilo: Dynamical Casimir effect in metamaterial converts vacuum fluctuations into real photons March 8, 2013 by Stuart Mason Dambrot Copyright © PNAS, doi:10.1073/pnas.1212705110 (Phys.org) —In the strange world of quantum mechanics, the vacuum state (sometimes referred to as the quantum vacuum, simply as the vacuum) is a quantum system's lowest possible energy state. While not containing physical particles, neither is it an empty void: Rather, the quantum vacuum contains fluctuating electromagnetic waves and so-called virtual particles, the latter being known to transition into and out of existence. In addition, the vacuum state has zero-point energy – the lowest quantized...

New potential avenues for early disease detection and preventionA study led by Matej Orešič from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland suggests that autoimmune diabetes is preceded by diminished gut microbial diversity of the Clostridium leptum subgroup, elevated plasma leptin and enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. In collaboration with the DIPP - Finnish Type 1 Diabetes and Prediction study, VTT researches have previously found that specific metabolic disturbances precede early β-cell autoimmunity markers in children who subsequently progress to type 1 diabetes. However, the question remained what are the environmental causes and tissue-specific mechanisms leading to these disturbances? Matej Orešič from...

A wide range of gluten free cereals have been studies in detail as part of the HEALTHGRAIN project of the European Union, and their impact on product quality has been assessed. Enzyme technology, bioprocessing as well as high-pressure processing technology have been successfully applied to improve the quality, safety and nutritional attributes of gluten free cereal products. In genetically susceptible individuals, the ingestion of gluten and related proteins triggers an immunemediated enteropathy known as Coeliac Disease (CD). Recent epidemiological studies have shown that 1 in 100 people worldwide suffer from CD. Such a rate establishes CD as one of the...

HELSINKI - Finnish scientists are analyzing a golden, cloudy beverage found in a 19th century shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, hoping new beers can be modeled on an ancient brew. The VTT Technical Research Center of Finland said Tuesday that through chemical analysis it aims to determine the ingredients and possibly the recipe used in brewing what it called "one of the world's oldest preserved beers." VTT scientist Arvi Vilpola said he had "the honorable task" of being the one on the research team to sample the brew. "It was a little sour and you could taste...

Finnish scientists have reported a breakthrough in the attempts to understand the development of type 1 diabetes. They discovered disturbances in lipid and amino acid metabolism in children who later progressed to type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes. The alterations preceded the autoimmune response by months to years. The study may prompt new approaches for prediction and prevention of type 1 diabetes in pre-autoimmune phase of the disease. The results of the Finnish research team, which consists of scientists from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the Universities of Turku, Oulu and Tampere, have been published on...

Researchers from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the University of Turku have demonstrated that an antibiotic called “monensin” prevents the growth of prostate cancer cells. Monensin is used in the meat and dairy industry, for example.Evidence pointing to the effects of monensin emerged in a project investigating the effects of nearly 5,000 drugs and micromolecules on the growth of prostate cancer cells. The project involved most of the drugs on the market today. Researchers found that small amounts of compounds – disulfiram (Antabus), thiram, tricostatin A, and monensin – can prevent the growth of prostate cancer cells without...