Israeli Researchers Turn Bugs Into Fertilizer and Biodiesel
Israeli Researchers Turn Bugs Into Fertilizer and Biodiesel
December 30, 2022
Alternative Energy, Research News, Sustainability & Climate Change
i24NEWS — Maggots may be the future of farming, according to BGU researchers.
“What we are doing is genetic engineering of this amazing creature called black soldier fly and we are trying to gain more oil in order to get it commercially viable for biofuels production,” Julia Segalin Nemets, CEO of BGU’s Oazis Accelerator, explained.
“It contains 30% protein, very high quality, and 30% oil. It can be used for animal feed, as a replacement for soil protein or a fish meal and its production is very sustainable,” BGU Prof. Anna Melkov, CTO and co-founder of BugEra, told i24NEWS.
BGU’s Premier Tech Research School
The research on the black soldier fly was conducted in a facility at Ben-Gurion University, one of the top institutions in Israel for technological research. But how can a product make the transition from mass production to the lab?
“Unfortunately, a lot of these wonderful things that could really change the world are staying within the walls of academia and we are here to change that so what we do is we find these groundbreaking research and researchers and we matchmake,” said Julia Segalin Nemets, CEO of Oazis Accelerator.
BGU’s Yazamut 360 research center oversees the project. Researchers who ordinarily wouldn’t know how to manage a business are brought in, and their projects are presented to those who wouldn’t be able to write an academic paper. They benefit from one another’s knowledge, which is how a successful tech company is created.
“In 2023 it is supposed to be around $4 billion just a basic market for protein. What we are trying to do is have a platform of genetically modified strains that we can prepare and develop specific strains for specific applications,” Etgar told i24NEWS.
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