DSM has opened a new biotechnology facility at its site in Delft to accelerate its biotechnology research and development capabilities for applications in food and nutrition, feed, fuel, pharma and bio-based materials. The completion of this new biotechnology centre is part of a €100 million investment program by DSM to scale up R&D in the Netherlands since 2013. The centre, which offers the broadest range of biotechnology specialisations under one DSM roof, clusters innovation, housing over 400 research and development staff.

The new Biotechnology Center is a further step in the development of the site in Delft, wher DSM Food Specialties has its global headquarters. DSM has expanded the site in Delft over the years, including building a large, modern food and application centre. DSM has also invested together with other industry players in a biotech fermentation pilot plant on the Delft site. The Delft site is also an important location for a number of industrial productions such as antibiotic intermediates and yeast extracts and flavours.

“DSM’s new Biotechnology Center is wher our scientists create solutions for societal challenges such as the need to provide all people globally with nutritious food, as well as enabling the transformation from a fossil-based to a bio-renewable-based society,” said Feike Sijbesma, CEO/Chairman of the DSM Managing Board. “The DSM Biotechnology Center facilitates these needs, in an innovative environment and at an historic location in Delft wher we build on nearly 150 years of scientific, academic and commercial activities.”

Innovations currently under development in the new biotechnology centre include the production of fermentative steviol glycosides - the reduced-calorie, sweet-tasting molecules in the stevia plant - as an answer to the growing global demand for sugar-reduced food and beverages. Also, DSM scientists in the biotech centre have developed a new technology that turns an inedible agricultural by-product of rapeseed, or canola, into valuable plant protein for a wide range of uses in food. These ‘proteins of the future’ address the increasing demand for protein globally.

DSM’s Biotechnology Center will be named the Rosalind Franklin Biotechnology Center in honor of pioneering scientist Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958), whose extraordinary work during a tragically short life and career significantly contributed to our understanding of the structure of DNA, effectively creating the basis for modern biotechnology. By honouring Rosalind Franklin, DSM says it pays tribute to all female heroes of science.