Bioeconomy

Article - 20/03/2018

ISOCALM: Thermal insulation boards made of elephant grass

Constructing buildings with renewable resources is becoming more and more trendy. The Schorndorf-based company ISOCALM GmbH specialises in the manufacture of thermal insulation boards made of elephant grass. The elephant grass is grown and processed in Africa and global distribution of the boards is organised through the company's headquarters in Germany.

Article - 19/03/2018

Regenerative medicine: curing rather than simply treating diseases

Some scientists refer to the latest developments in the field of regenerative medicine as the "next revolution in medicine". With the help of gene therapies or stem cells, regenerative medicine aims not only to treat disease symptoms, but to cure them at source. Some approaches are already being used to treat patients and several others are close to application.

Article - 14/03/2018

Patent versus publication: setting up start-ups in the sciences

When it comes to universities as start-up incubators, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA is often used as a prime example of entrepreneurial impact. Well over 100 high-tech spin-offs have been set up in the vicinity of the renowned university. Many German universities also offer attractive conditions for scientists with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Big Data - 13/03/2018

“More data does not automatically imply more knowledge“

In Germany, one of the big names in evidence-based medicine is Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Gerd Antes, co-director of Cochrane Germany. In the following interview, Antes talks about the hype surrounding big data, warns against false promises and reminds us about what is taken for granted.

Dossier - 08/03/2018

Building sustainably - actively protecting the climate

Using renewable and recycled raw materials, minimising the use of water and energy during construction works and subsequent operation of a building, conserving resources and protecting the environment while maintaining biodiversity are all important components of sustainable building construction.

Article - 08/03/2018

Investors wanted: can crowdfunding get the electric walking frame up and running?

If e-bikes make getting around easier, why shouldn't it be possible to apply the same principle to walking frames? That's exactly the question that three young company founders from Stuttgart asked, which led to the development of an electric walking frame called ello. This new walking frame allows users to cope with gradients and kerbs easily and without too much effort.

Dossier - 06/03/2018

Big data - the big promise of the new digitised world

Big data is a widely used buzzword in today's information era. The use of big data in the digital world presents both an opportunity and a risk. Mass data is now used and analysed in almost all areas of life. Even the healthcare sector is undergoing extensive digitisation.

Article - 21/02/2018

HepaRegeniX – a start-up is taking it up a step!

HepaRegeniX, a biotech company founded in 2016, specialises in developing drugs that restore the regenerative capacity of diseased livers. The three founders of the biotech start-up, Prof. Dr. Lars Zender, Prof. Dr. Stefan Laufer and Dr. Wolfgang Albrecht, anticipate starting clinical testing of the first drug candidate in 2019.

Press release - 21/02/2018

German Cancer Award for Michael Baumann

Michael Baumann, Chairman and Scientific Director of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, receives the 2017 German Cancer Award in the category "Translational Research". The science award, which is sponsored by the German Cancer Society and the German Cancer Foundation, is one of the most prestigious distinctions in cancer medicine in Germany.

Article - 20/02/2018

New strategies against malaria

Malaria, which is a mosquito-borne disease caused by Plasmodium parasites, is still one of the worst infectious human diseases. The parasites have developed resistance against previously effective drugs and new strategies to combat malaria are urgently needed.

Article - 14/02/2018

Animal-free diabetes research with the pancreas chip

Quite a number of promising drug candidates for the treatment of diabetes are currently in the pharmaceutical pipeline, including innovative drugs that can stimulate the regeneration of insulin-producing pancreatic cells. However, they will have to be safety tested in animals. Scientists from Ulm University Hospital have now begun to develop a pancreatic chip from stem cells.

Article - 13/02/2018

Pleasant aromas from biogas

Butyric acid is an important source of fruity aromas. It accumulates as an intermediary product during biogas production, from where it can be siphoned off and used for producing flavours. A new collaborative project aims to explore the technological and bioeconomic potential of extracting butyric acid from biogas plants.

Extends ongoing collaboration with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with award of two new grants. CureVac AG, a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company pioneering the field of mRNA-based drugs, today announced the awarding of two new grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Press release - 05/02/2018

BIOPRO - an integral part of the new EU project “CirculAlps”

The forestry industry already makes an important contribution to the bioeconomy. A project called “CirculAlps” will expand and diversify this contribution as well as promoting the circular economy in the Alpine timber sector.

Press release - 05/02/2018

BIOPRO - an integral part of the new EU project “CirculAlps”

The forestry industry already makes an important contribution to the bioeconomy. A project called “CirculAlps” will expand and diversify this contribution as well as promoting the circular economy in the Alpine timber sector.

Article - 01/02/2018

Combined test systems to advance the development of drugs for treating Alzheimer’s

Which substances are suitable for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's? Due to complex biochemical relationships, testing suitable drug candidates is difficult, especially in the early drug development phase. Many predictive test systems only cover individual aspects. A team from Baden-Württemberg and France is now combining different models to develop a new approach.

Diagnostics - 29/01/2018

New test for extended blood fat analysis

Cholesterol is seen as the cause of atherosclerosis, a disease that can lead to heart attacks and strokes. However, it now seems that the way cholesterol is packaged may be even more important than high blood cholesterol levels. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy now allows the high-throughput analysis of such lipid packages.

Article - 25/01/2018

Ö-Klo: recovering valuable materials by composting toilets

The Freiburg-based start-up company Ö-Klo leases composting toilets and is committed to the recovery of human urine and faeces. The young Ö-Klo entrepreneurs believe that reviving natural material cycles of soil, plants, food and excreta is crucial in times when natural resources such as phosphorus are dwindling.

Press release - 18/01/2018

Wood for clothing, reducing microplastics in our seas: VAUDE participates in the TextileMission research project

Together with various partners from environmental associations, the scientific community and the textile industry, VAUDE has launched the TextileMission research project. The goal is to find solutions that will reduce the environmental impact of microplastics released when synthetic apparel is washed. VAUDE is excited about the initial successful developments.

Article - 18/01/2018

Medications that target metastasing tumours

Tumour metastases are often resistant to the drug that is used to eliminate the primary tumour. Genome-wide analyses of mutation patterns in the primary tumour and its metastases provide information on the aggressiveness of cancer and may help to find the best available means of further treatment. This has been demonstrated by scientists from Heidelberg in a clinical trial on the molecular evolution of renal cancer.

Article - 15/01/2018

PULaCell: inspiring wood construction with biobased polyurethane

The aim of the joint three-year "PULaCell" project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) is to develop biobased reinforcing profiles for solid wood construction materials. As part of the project, several research institutes and industrial companies are developing biobased, cellulose fibre-reinforced polyurethane profiles that will make future wood-based materials stronger.

Article - 15/01/2018

Blockchain technology as an opportunity for more transparency and self-determination

In the healthcare sector, blockchain technology is still in the early stages of development, although it has huge potential in this field. It is expected that patients will particularly benefit from the introduction of a decentralised database for managing and sharing health-related information with treating physicians. Statutory health insurance companies become less important as intermediaries. But how exactly does this technology work?

CureVac AG, a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of pioneering mRNA therapeutics, and Arcturus Therapeutics Ltd. (NASDAQ:ARCT), an RNA medicines company, today announced they have entered into a broad strategic collaboration to jointly discover, develop and commercialize novel messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics.

Article - 14/12/2017

75 percent decline in insects in parts of Germany

A recent study on the disappearance of insects is making headlines: it found that the insect biomass has declined by more than 75% in certain areas in Germany that were monitored by the study over a period of 27 years. The authors believe that the dramatic decline in insect biomass is down to industrial agriculture, which is therefore in conflict with certain bioeconomic principles: the sustainable cultivation of biomass and the safeguarding of…