Nico Claassens

In Dutch

Plastics and other everyday products still consist largely of carbon derived from petroleum. Claassens studies more sustainable alternatives. Some bacteria use carbon dioxide as a building block and hydrogen as a source of energy. He and his team are studying how these bacteria can be genetically modified to produce carbon building blocks for the manufacture of materials, food or chemicals. He is also investigating the structure of a bacterium's DNA with a view to replicating cells in the future. His work is helping to advance more sustainable biotechnological production methods and their practical application in society.