Issue 7 October 2023 Research, Innovation, Technology

Norwegian spruce will provide sustainable feed

The Foods of Norway research centre is researching sustainable animal feed from Norwegian spruce forests. Researchers affiliated with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Environment at Ås are working to increase food production while reducing the carbon footprint. The solution is yeast extracted from spruce trees that can outperform imported soy. 
In order to get enough feed for the aquaculture industry and livestock farming, Norway is dependent on importing large quantities of feed from abroad. But soon Norwegian spruce can be an alternative. The locally produced food will create good environmental benefits while at the same time making the fish healthier.
Microbes and yeast are the future of food production. They have a high nutritional value and can turn many different raw materials into high-quality proteins.
Foods of Norway is one of the Research Council of Norway’s centres for research-based innovation. The centres develop competence that is important for innovation and value creation.

Tiny magnets resulted in coronavirus test in record time

Over a very short period of time in 2020, researchers Magnar Bjørås and Sulalit Bandyopadhyay at NTNU developed a very sensitive coronavirus test. The test was taken into use early in Norwegian hospitals and has also been sold to health care services in other countries.
When Norway closed down in March 2020, it quickly became clear that the hospitals had to limit the number of tests since there was limited access to test equipment. The new test method meant that 300,000 people could be tested weekly for the coronavirus at the end of May. The test quickly became one of Norway’s most important components of gaining control of the virus. 
The story behind the coronavirus test shows how two basic research environments that had not previously worked together, and which were professionally far apart, could solve together a difficult challenge in a short period of time. 
In the autumn of 2021, Bjørås and Bandyopadhyay received the Research Council of Norway’s Innovation Award.