Bioeconomy

Article - 03/10/2010

LimCo International - innovative methods to assess water pollution

LimCo International has developed the Multispecies Freshwater Biomonitor a unique continuous early warning system that enables the fully automated detection of water contamination. The companys GamTox toxicity test can be used to assess the ecological situation of flowing waters.

Press release - 02/10/2010

Jürgen Wolfrum awarded Bernhard Lewis Gold Medal

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Wolfrum from the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Heidelberg has been awarded the Bernhard Lewis Gold Medal the worlds most prestigious award in the field of combustion for his groundbreaking work over the last 40 years.

Article - 27/09/2010

Fraunhofer ICT – from biomass to technical materials

The Pfinztal-based Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology investigates and develops innovative technical materials on the basis of biobased thermoplasts and furanic resin. Innovative companies in the consumer goods, packaging and transport industries are extremely interested in such products.

Article - 20/09/2010

Using nanoscale knowledge at the micro level

The physicist Prof. Dr. Paul Leiderer and his team are investigating the adhesive forces between nanoparticles and a variety of different surfaces in the search for innovative methods to remove them. As the researcher reports in an interview with BIOPRO his team particularly focuses on the optical electrical and mechanical properties of these nanoparticles.

Article - 20/09/2010

mayer-THERMOPLASTE GmbH – technically sophisticated production

mayer-THERMOPLASTE GmbH is a specialist in high-quality plastics injection moulding. The company’s flexible organisation of production enables it to react quickly to customer requirements. Based on the idea of using biomaterials for injection moulding, the company’s managing directors, Dirk Elger and Günter Lachnit, are currently planning to become involved in production using sustainable plastics.

Article - 18/09/2010

Empa Testmaterials: assessing the effectiveness of washing processes

Empa Testmaterials AG focuses on the research and development of test systems and materials that enable biofilm to be successfully removed from washing machines as well as controlling the level of hygiene of individual wash cycles. As a competence centre in washing and cleaning the company specialises in the assessment of washing and cleaning processes in terms of effectiveness energy efficiency damage and hygiene.

Article - 13/09/2010

Stuttgart-based ZSW turns wood and electricity into gas

It is rather reassuring to know that fossil energy carriers can be replaced by renewable ones. However, the difficulties are always in the details. For example with regard to the storage capacity of electricity produced with sun and wind; or with regard to the use of biomass to produce natural gas substitutes. The Stuttgart-based Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) has a number of solutions up its sleeve for…

Article - 13/09/2010

Molecules adapted to the environment

For many years Prof. Dr. Klaus Kümmerer from the University Medical Centre Freiburg has been investigating how the chemical structures of drugs and other chemicals can be modified in order to enable them to be degraded more quickly in rivers and soils. There has to be a new way of thinking said Kümmerer going on to add the appropriate methods are already in place.

Article - 07/09/2010

think-blue - optimal tools for biopolymers

Jürgen Spitzmüller’s goal is to create perfect profiles with perfect extrusion systems. The experienced entrepreneur has left his family business to set up the company “think-blue” aimed at commercialising innovations for extrusion systems.

Press release - 23/08/2010

University of Stuttgart participates in EU project: Parameters that help advance biogas technologies in Europe

There is a binding EU-wide target to source 20 per cent of each country’s energy needs, as stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol, from renewable sources by 2020. The production of biogas is one promising key technology that could lead to this target being reached. But which technologies, measures and conditions are needed to advance biogas technology in Europe? The EU research project SEBE (Sustainable and Innovative European Biogas Environment) is…

Dossier - 09/08/2010

Molecular design made to measure and the requirements

Biomolecules such as peptides and nucleic acids can nowadays be synthesised relatively quickly and inexpensively. In addition, great progress has been made in the development of methods enabling the directed mutagenesis in microorganisms. These two developments have boosted the design of new, and the reorganisation of known, molecules. Moreover, these help in the utilisation of certain molecule functions in research and in the industrial…

The research group led by Prof. Ralf Reski is a moss specialist and has now, for the first time, succeeded in producing a human protein in a moss bioreactor – the complement factor H. The lack of this protein leads to age-related macular degeneration in about 50 million people worldwide. The complement factor H has been assigned ‘orphan drug’ status by the respective EU authorities.

Article - 31/07/2010

Tanja Weil: solutions involving biohybrid materials

Tanja Weil travelled across half the globe in order to be able to start her new position as the head of the Institute of Organic Chemistry III Macromolecular Chemistry and Organic Materials at the University of Ulm on 1 May 2010. Prior to her current position the 36-year-old chemist was associate professor at the renowned National University of Singapore and is now trying to bridge her discipline with the disciplines of biology medicine and the…

Article - 26/07/2010

University of Hohenheim and AVAT: innovative method for the production of biogas

Partners from industry and research have joined forces to develop an innovative method for the production of biogas. In contrast to standard methods, the chemical degradation processes will in future take place in different tanks rather than in just one. The developers hope that the separation of the processes will expedite the degradation processes, improve the quality of the individual degradation products, and enable their broad applications.…

Press release - 14/07/2010

GMOs: Member States to be given full responsibility on cultivation in their territories

The EU Commission proposed to confer to Member States the freedom to allow restrict or ban the cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms GMOs on part or all of their territory. The EUs science-based GM authorisation system will be kept unchanged.

Press release - 11/07/2010

Biologists at the University of Stuttgart identify three new tardigrade species

Tardigrades also known as water bears have the remarkable ability to survive in extreme conditions - complete desiccation or freezing without sustaining any damage at all! Around 1000 tardigrade species were previously known. Dr. Ralph Schill from the Institute of Biology at the University of Stuttgart and colleagues from the University of Würzburg have now discovered three new species.

Article - 10/07/2010

WEE-Solve GmbH – removing troublemakers

The purification and fractionation of polymers using innovative methods is of huge importance in many areas, including pharmacy and cosmetics. This is due to the fact that some polymers can only exert their full effect after fractionation. WEE-Solve GmbH offers innovative methods and scientific experience in polymer fractionation and rheology.

Article - 10/07/2010

Algae light up industry

The potential of Microalgae cannot yet be optimally used on the large scale. The bioprocess engineer Dr. Rosa Rosello and her team at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT are investigating the conditions under which different microalgae species can optimally grow in photobioreactors and lead to high product yields. It is all a question of light and shade.

Article - 05/07/2010

ASA Spezialenzyme GmbH – more biogas thanks to optimised enzymes

ASA Spezialenzyme GmbH offers solutions for a broad range of applications – enzymes for quicker biogas production, enzymes for rust removal or enzymes for the production of new biopolymers in cars. The company has been coming up with innovative ideas for the biotechnology market ever since it was established in 1991.

Article - 03/07/2010

"Biodegradability needs to have an additional benefit"

Dr. Michael Thielen had worked in the plastics industry for many years before he entered the realms of journalism in 2006 the year in which he created the Bioplastics Magazine the only worldwide journal that focuses exclusively on bioplastics. In an interview with Christoph Bächtle Thielen spoke about polylactide biodegradability the properties of bioplastics and their role in comparison with traditional petrol-based plastics.

Press release - 29/06/2010

Plant growth hormones: antagonists cooperate

The two most important growth hormones of plants so far considered antagonists also work synergistically. The activities of auxin and cytokinin key molecules for plant growth and the formation of organs such as leaves and buds are in fact more closely interwoven than previously assumed. Scientists from Heidelberg Tübingen Germany and Umea Sweden made this surprising discovery in a series of complex experiments using thale cress Arabidopsis…

Article - 28/06/2010

ATG:biosynthetics GmbH – Modular molecular systems of the future

ATGbiosynthetics GmbH based in Merzhausen close to Freiburg produces biological systems that can combine gene constituents following a construction kit principle. The company provides the pharmaceutical industry and basic researchers with products that have specifically chosen properties.

Press release - 25/06/2010

World-first biorefinery pilot project to promote the use of wood

The German Minister of Agriculture, Ilse Aigner, has launched the pilot phase of the world’s first lignocellulose biorefinery to be set up by a research consortium at the Leuna chemical location. Speaking in Berlin, Aigner presented the decision of the German government to grant more than 8.5 million euros to a consortium that also includes researchers from Baden-Württemberg as part of the “Renewable Resources” programme of the German Ministry of…

Dossier - 14/06/2010

Engineers of life

Synthetic biology focuses on the development of biological systems with new defined characteristics assembled according to the principles of engineering. Synthetic biology has the potential to be used for a broad range of applications and has solutions in store for major problems of the future. It also fuels fears that human beings are playing the role of creators and going beyond natural boundaries.

Article - 11/06/2010

Recycling of bacterial cell wall constituents

Bacterial cells are focused on growth and proliferation. These processes are initiated by cellular enzymes that break up the cell wall material murein introduce new material and degrade material that is no longer needed. And all this in large amounts about 50 per cent of murein are degraded and newly formed turnover per cell generation. Dr. Christoph Mayer and his team from the University of Constance have shown that the cells carry out effective…