Omics and the bioeconomy

I n the wake of the worst financial crisis since 1930, many countries face the challenge of creating a new economy model that relies less on financial services but more on production. Science therefore plays an increasingly important role to generate the knowledge that will eventually give rise to these new products. This coincides with the grand challenges of the 21 century: dealing with the effects of global climate change, energy security and producing enough food for a growing human population. By 2050, nine billion people are expected to live on this planet, who will need access to food and clean water while the area of fertile land for agricultural is decreasing owing to overgrazing, salinisation, desertification and urban development. ...................................................... “. . . if a future bioeconomy is seen as the major solution to achieve all these goals, it will be necessary to reconcile agricultural and industrial needs for biomass and land.” ......................................................