Bioconvergence is no longer just a buzzword—it’s reshaping industries far beyond healthcare.
From the food we eat to the environment we live in, the collaboration of biologists and engineers is driving transformative change, according to Shai Melcer, head of the National Bio-Convergence Program at the Israel Innovation Authority.
The first industry to feel the shift is food tech.
“A lot of the cultured meat people came from stem cells, et cetera. So there was a big wave of people that know how to grow cells. And instead of doing it for therapeutics, they started doing it for food,” Melcer explained. “That was one of the bigger areas that were taken over by bioconvergence technologies.”
The environmental sector is next.
“It is putting microorganisms on a chip in order to better sense what's happening in the environment,” Melcer said. “Using biological material to have a better sense of an area is something that has been going on for decades. Now, the jump in engineering and computation has allowed for much more products to be developed to better sense and better treat the environment.”
Bioconvergence is also changing manufacturing itself.
“If you need an alternative protein, or a fatty acid to use on an industrial level, you have a lot of biological systems that could do it much, much better or cheaper or safer or in more sustainable ways than the traditional manufacturing systems do today,” Melcer added.
Watch the full interview:
Podcast.Shai.Melcer
(Credit: ILTV)
