Despite the financial crisis, industrial biotechnology "is taking off," writes The Economist. This sector is doing well, the article says, because the technology has matured beyond the laboratory stage and large corporations are beginning to take advantage of it. Indeed, a few startups that are now being backed by larger firms: Royal Dutch Shell has invested in Codexis and the French oil company Total is backing Amyris. "We're not just dealing with vats any more," says Volkert Claassen of Royal DSM.