A new review published in Trends in Biotechnology by BIO² Coordinator Alessio Adamiano and colleagues; Simona Cioffi and Michele Iafisco examines the latest advances in microbial encapsulation using natural polymers, biominerals and hybrid materials.

The authors show that encapsulation can do more than shield microorganisms. Carefully designed materials can improve stability, functionality and application performance, helping microbial products move from the laboratory to agriculture and industrial biotechnology.

The review also highlights a critical sustainability challenge: the main environmental impacts often stem from producing the encapsulation materials themselves rather than from the encapsulation process. This underlines the importance of evaluating performance and sustainability together.

These questions are central to BIO², where partners are developing biomass-derived encapsulation systems and microbial solutions to support more sustainable crop protection and reduce dependence on copper and sulfur in organic farming.

Congratulations to the whole team!