Meat is big business. The global industry is worth over $2 trillion and JBS, the world's largest meat company, makes over $50 billion in annual revenue. This article from Dr Michael Dent discusses the sustainability problems in the meat industry and what can be done?

Plastic pollution is rapidly becoming one of the world's biggest environmental issues as increasing production of single use plastic products far outweighs the world's ability to deal with them.

Vertical farming is the practice of growing plants indoors under fully controlled environmental conditions in many stacked layers, using artificial lighting instead of relying on the sun. By tuning the growing environment to the exact needs of the plant and using soil-free growing techniques, vertical farming can achieve yields hundreds of times higher than conventional agriculture, 365 days a year and without requiring pesticides.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, with over 17 million per year according to the World Health Organisation. This represents approximately 31% of global deaths. Many forms of cardiovascular disease are chronic in nature, meaning that they worsen over time. Thus, once the disease has been diagnosed it is important to initiate treatment as soon as possible in order to provide positive patient outcomes.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 24 March 2020 titled Where are the Market Opportunities in Molecular Diagnostics?

Attendees of Healthcare Sensor Innovations USA 2020 will hear from industry representatives on how advanced sensors, sensor fusion, algorithms, analytics and artificial intelligence can enable point-of-care testing and the movement towards the decentralization of healthcare.

IDTechEx identifies top future technologies in healthcare. With demographic changes such as the aging of the population, they forecast there to be strong growth in technologies that help healthcare providers manage the growing burden on the healthcare system while maintaining high quality care.

Masterclasses are the ideal way to train staff on emerging technologies. Bracketing the IDTechEx show in Berlin, the IDTechEx masterclasses on 12th and 15th May 2020 will contain the latest insights and analysis on their chosen topics.

Healthcare Sensor Innovations 2020, hosted in San Jose on March 17-18, identifies and assesses the opportunities for printed and flexible electronics in healthcare as the technology enables a new wave of medical wearable devices.

Healthcare Sensor Innovations North America debut on Marc, 17-18, 2020 in San Jose, USA will focus on the latest developments in the use of wearables and sensors in point of care diagnostics and continuous monitoring.

Memphis Meats a leading start-up in the race to develop cultured meat products, recently announced that it had closed a $161 million funding round. IDTechEx Analyst Dr Michael Dent discusses what this means for the commercialisation of the cultured meat industry.

Attendees at Healthcare Sensor Innovations USA 2020 will hear from industry representatives on how the next wave of connected and wearable medical devices will bring increased benefits to patients, healthcare providers, insurers, and the pharmaceutical industry.

The current outbreak of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has hit China in the past month and spread to 25 nations. Early detection and diagnosis are essential to reduce the prevalence of infectious diseases and to prevent them from becoming epidemic or even pandemic.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) must be better managed for patient care to improve. The protocols for monitoring patients are rapidly evolving. Historically, patients who fall ill are required to travel in order to visit a general practitioner or hospital. This procedure may soon become a thing of the past.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Wednesday 5 February 2020 titled Plant-Based and Cultured Meat: The Future of Meat Alternatives.

There is dramatic change in some industries, with leading printed electronics vendors moving quickly to capitalize on the new sought after capabilities. These opportunities will be addressed at the Printed Electronics Europe exhibition and conference in Berlin on 13 - 14 May (register by 23 January to save 40%).

Diagnosing CVD is the first step in patients' road to recovery. It is imperative to detect the disease early in order to administer treatment while it is still treatable. In addition, preventing the disease altogether is becoming more important in healthcare. The main approaches for detecting CVD are currently in vitro diagnostics (IVD) at point-of-care (POC) and the use artificial intelligence (AI) in cardiovascular imaging.

Central to any circular economy is polymer recycling. Current mechanical recycling processes face many issues from societal perceptions of recycling, to economic and technological barriers; however, there are a number of companies whose innovations are changing the face of polymer recycling. From IDTechEx's latest report, "Green Technology and Polymer Recycling: Market Analysis 2020-2030" by Dr Bryony Core, here is a rundown of some of these key companies.

2019 has been a big year for plant-based meat substitutes. Spurred on by consumer perceptions of healthiness and a global megatrend towards conscious consumptions, sales of plant-based meat grew by almost 40%, compared with 2017. In the three months after going public, plant-based burger maker Beyond Meat's share price surged by 500% and rival Impossible Foods secured an additional $300 million in funding.

Will the hamburgers of the future be made from animal cells grown in a lab instead of inside a cow? Cultured meat, also known as "cell-based" or "clean" meat, could soon be making its way to our dinner plates, completely bypassing the need for animal slaughter and overcoming some of the major environmental issues that currently plague the global agriculture industry. Even though no products have yet been released and there are major challenges with cost, regulation and scale up, the industry is growing rapidly, with investment reaching a new high in 2019.