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Article for: The Davis Enterprise
Date: March 12, 2004
Author: Kimberly Bernick

Biotechnology: Helping To Pave The Way To An Environmentally Friendlier Future

As the world’s population steadily increases, so does the demand for material goods. This is a fundamental point of every beginning economics class. Contrast that with a growing need to conserve our resources and a conflict is not hard to imagine. 

"Industry around the world is currently facing an immense challenge-meeting a rapidly growing population’s need for goods, services, and employment while also protecting the environment," said Glenn Nedwin, president of Novozymes Biotech.

This is a tough challenge. For most of the world’s recent, industrialized history, conservation has not been a top priority. Resources have seemed plentiful and quite available, leading most of our modern technological advancements to be dependent upon resources, which are truly limited. 

Now, as people are becoming poignantly aware of the toll that our technology and modernization has been taking on the environment, companies such as Novozymes Biotech are stepping up to the challenge to try and create new methods of running our world that will use less energy and resources. 

On Tuesday, March 16, Nedwin will be speaking at 7:30 pm at the Davis Branch Library as part of Explorit Science Center's Cutting Edge of Science Lecture Series. His lecture, "Biotechnology: Solutions to Balance Better Living with a Cleaner Environment," will address the pressing issue of cutting back on waste and usage through the expansion of technology to encompass ideas of conservation. 

According to Nedwin, three of the most important tasks that companies such as Novozymes Biotech face today are cleaning up after polluters of the past, developing safer and cleaner processes that require smaller amounts of energy and resources, and developing products that are less hazardous, generate less pollution and are more energy-efficient.

Nedwin does emphasize the fact that "technology alone is not the answer to our problems, but it can play a key role in these areas." He continues on to highlight the point that "biotechnology-in particular the use of enzymes-is a good example of this because it enables industry to use biological systems in production to the benefit of both industry and society."

Nedwin comes bearing numerous academic and professional credentials, including a Ph.D. in biochemistry from UC Riverside and a Masters Degree in the Management of Technology from MIT. He is currently president of Novozymes Biotech and resides here in Davis.

Explorit’s Cutting Edge of Science Lectures are sponsored by Novozymes Biotech and are hosted by the Davis Branch Library.

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Tomorrow is the grand opening of Explorit's newest hands-on exhibition, "Networks in Nature: The Original World Wide Web." 

A Family Explorations program "Nature in Our Backyard" will complement the new exhibit. The program runs from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. and includes a nature walk from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

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Explorit Science Center is at 3141 5th Street in East Davis. The current exhibition is "Networks in Nature: The Original World Wide Web," which continues through June 6. Public hours are Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.explorit.org or call Explorit at (530) 756-0191.