There isn't a big deal.
Always follow the money:
"...the National Science Foundation (NSF) is giving $1.9 million to the University of Massachusettss mechanical engineer Christopher Niezrecki and the University of Wichita to find, as Fast Company puts it, biological-derived materials for biodegradable blade materials that replace carbon-fiber composites and petroleum-based epoxies, the current industry standard.
There's a fortune to be made in the crisis industrial complex.