Dossier - 23/07/2012

Extremophilic bacteria

Extremophilic bacteria love it hot, sour or salty, toxic substances like heavy metals also do them good and even give them energy. As molecular and systems biology techniques get better and better, industry is also becoming increasingly interested in these exotic organisms. What potential does knowing the biochemistry of extremophilic bacteria have for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and sanitary articles industries?

The Cluster of Excellence IntCDC of the University of Stuttgart presents the "Maison Fibre" at the International Architecture Exhibition Venice. The full-scale inhabitable installation is made from robotically produced, fibrous building elements.

Optical technologies & artificial intelligence: University of Hohenheim, Bosch, Amazonen-Werke, and BASF Digital Farming conducts research into high-performance sensors for smart herbicide treatment

Optical technologies & artificial intelligence: University of Hohenheim, Bosch, Amazonen-Werke, and BASF Digital Farming conducts research into high-performance sensors for smart herbicide treatment

Novel coronavirus outbreak - a status report on recent developments - 04/03/2020

Waiting for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine

Researchers around the world are working frantically on the development of a vaccine against the new coronavirus. A project by the Tübingen-based biotechnology company CureVac, funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), uses the company’s technology platform for mRNA-based vaccines to accelerate vaccine development, thus contributing to the future prevention of the disease.

The market for medical technology is innovative, dynamic, and growing. Bosch sees medical technology as a strategic growth field and intends to expand its Bosch Healthcare Solutions subsidiary, based in Waiblingen. Bosch has now entered into a new partnership with the German diagnostics solutions company R-Biopharm. This partnership will be focused on Bosch’s universal, fully automated Vivalytic molecular diagnostic analysis platform.

At the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, a three-dimensional skin model has now been set up for the first time that directly displays the skin's reaction to substances: The reporter skin. Thanks to the built-in reporter, the cellular response can be measured precisely and quickly – using a living model.

TÜV SÜD has received approval as a UK Approved Body (UKAB) for medical devices. With this approval, medical device manufacturers can implement UKCA certification for the UK market and CE certification for the European market in a time- and cost-efficient manner with TÜV SÜD.

Printing a new cornea during an operation to restore a patient’s eyesight: This groundbreaking step in the fight against corneal disorders is set to become reality with a laser based process using personalized bioink. The method was developed by researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in collaboration with Carl Zeiss Meditec AG and Evonik Healthcare. Their project won the idea award in this year’s NEULAND innovation contest.

Microorganisms can increase their host’s ability to adapt to the environment and reproduce – evolutionary biologists are now studying the underlying molecular mechanisms. A research team headed by Dr. Fabian Staubach and Yun Wang from the Institute of Biology I at the University of Freiburg has now studied the relationship of Gluconobacter bacteria and fruit flies. They have found that specific Gluconobacter variants supply the flies with vitamin…

Paludiculture as a beacon of hope for the climate - 28/06/2022

Peatlands as CO2 reservoirs: simultaneous renaturation and use

Peatlands store more carbon dioxide than any other ecosystem in the world. However, when drained, they become a climate-damaging source of CO2. The management of wet peatlands reveals exciting solutions, with market potential in the areas of local heating, insulation, packaging and even peat substitution.

Wasser 3.0: #detect|remove|reuse - 31/10/2023

How to sustainably remove and recycle microplastics from water

We all pollute our water with things we use in our everyday lives. In the process, microplastics and micropollutants accumulate in sometimes significant quantities and are difficult to remove. This has increasingly devastating consequences for our health and the environment. Wasser 3.0, a non-profit start-up from Karlsruhe, has declared war on this problem by developing a customisable process to detect, remove and even recycle these pollutants.

Dossier - 26/03/2012

Nanobiotechnology

What is nanobiotechnology what is the difference between nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology and where and what nanobiotechnological research is being carried out in Germany and more particularly in Baden-Württemberg and which applications is it aimed at?

Dossier - 26/03/2012

Nanobiotechnology

What is nanobiotechnology what is the difference between nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology and where and what nanobiotechnological research is being carried out in Germany and more particularly in Baden-Württemberg and which applications is it aimed at?

On 8 February, the European Parliament adopted its Own Initiative Report on the Circular Economy which recognised the role of bioplastics for the future. Amongst other issues highlighted, the MEPs emphasised the potential role of bio–based and biodegradable and compostable plastics in the circular economy whilst noting that bio-based and/or biodegradable plastics alone will not provide a solution to the environmental concerns related to plastics.

Start-up PROSERVATION - sustainable packaging - 21/09/2021

Husk as a substitute for polystyrene: packaging materials with a good conscience

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) packaging is very practical, but it is made from petroleum and is not very environmentally friendly in other ways either. Single-use plastic containers made of EPS have therefore been banned in the EU, but alternatives are also urgently needed. The Stuttgart-based start-up PROSERVATION has developed an ecological packaging material made from grain husks that could replace EPS and be just as effective.

Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB - 24/04/2020

A rapid pyrogen test: the human immune system as model

Every year, around 11 million people die of sepsis (blood poisoning) caused by microorganisms or microbial residues, known as pyrogens, entering the bloodstream. The smallest amounts can trigger fever. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart have developed a pyrogen test that does not require a laboratory and is not tested on animals. It is expected to be placed on the market soon.

Prof. Dr. Harald Gießen from the Institute of Physics (4) as well as Prof. Dr. Alois Herkommer and Dr. Simon Thiele from the Institute of Applied Optics at the University of Stuttgart received the Gips Schüle Research Award 2021 on October 19, 2021. The researchers were awarded the prize, which is valued at EUR 50,000.

CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced positive preliminary data from ongoing Phase 1 clinical programs in COVID-19 and seasonal flu, assessing both modified and unmodified mRNA technology. The tested vaccine candidates are being developed in collaboration with GSK.

Around 7 million euros to promote more sustainable use of the world's limited phosphate supply: The German-Chinese Research Training Group AMAIZE-P can continue its research on phosphorus as one of the most important nutrient elements for plants. The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved a second funding period of another 4.5 years.

Phase 1 part of combined Phase 1/2 study initiated as part of pandemic preparedness against highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) virus, considered to be potential future pandemic threat. Study will assess monovalent vaccine candidate, encoding an influenza A H5-antigen using proprietary second-generation mRNA backbone.

Innovative materials - 14/06/2023

Reinventing ‘wood’ with programmable bacteria

Conserving wood by producing furniture and other objects from wood-based materials with the help of microorganisms? That is exactly what a team of researchers from the University of Freiburg and the Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM) in Saarbrücken is working on in the DELIVER project. The aim is to create a database of materials with a broad range of controllable properties for various applications that can be produced from wood waste.

Dossier - 02/12/2013

RNA interference confidence is returning

The 15-year history of RNA interference is not short on dramatic effects. It begins with the unexpected discovery and publication of the process of post-transcriptional gene silencing in 1998 for which Andrew Fire and Craig Mello were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine just eight years after their discovery. In 2001 Thomas Tuschl succeeded in switching off genes in human cells with small synthetic pieces of RNA siRNA.

Initial Phase 1 part started with multivalent modified mRNA influenza vaccine candidates. Candidates developed in collaboration with GSK within broad infectious disease vaccine program encode for antigens covering four WHO-recommended flu strains.

Article - 02/04/2019

Simple sugar could soon compete with glyphosate

For many decades, glyphosate has been a common component of agricultural pesticides worldwide, although it is a controversial herbicide that may be harmful. The good news is that a more sustainable alternative is now in sight: researchers from the University of Tübingen have discovered a sugar molecule called 7-deoxy-sedoheptulose (7dSh) which inhibits the growth of plants and microorganisms, but appears to be completely harmless to human cells.

Pioneering cutting-edge diagnostic systems for the detection of complex diseases: Cyber Valley is pleased to announce it has awarded funding of 500K EUR to the CELL’n’ROLL team through the 2023 Cyber Valley Innovation Fellowship program, funded by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung.

CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced the publication entitled “Therapeutic HNF4A mRNA attenuates liver fibrosis in a preclinical model” in the peer-reviewed Journal of Hepatology.

Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Voxalytic GmbH developed a new method that allows, for the first time, to elucidate the chiral structure of molecules – the exact spatial arrangement of the atoms – by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This important step in the development of new drugs used to be a time-consuming process until now.

Cortisone and other related glucocorticoids are extremely effective at curbing excessive immune reactions. But previously, astonishingly little was known about how they exactly do that. A team of researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Uniklinikum Erlangen and Ulm University have now explored the molecular mechanism of action in greater detail.

Dossier - 12/03/2012

Regenerative medicine makes use of patients own resources

Die Regenerative Medizin bietet neue Therapieoptionen quer durch die ärztlichen Fachgebiete. Zumeist sind es zellbasierte Verfahren und sie werden häufig mit innovativen Biomaterialien kombiniert. Regenerative Therapien vereinen Know-how aus den Biowissenschaften mit moderner Medizintechnik und sie profitieren von den Fortschritten in den Ingenieur- und Materialwissenschaften.

CureVac N.V. a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced that the first participant was dosed in a Phase 1 study of COVID-19 second-generation mRNA vaccine candidate, CV2CoV, developed in collaboration with GSK.

Mitochondria are considered to be the power plants of cells and are essential for human metabolism. Dysfunction in 40 percent of mitochondrial proteins are associated with human diseases, which is why mitochondria also play an important role in medical research. A previously unexplained process in the complex mitochondria was the formation of their barrel pores.

Lentil cultivation in a producers’ association - EIP-AGRI Rhizo-Linse project - 23/05/2022

From cultivation to market – lentils from the Swabian Alb

Complicated cultivation, fluctuating yields and complex cleaning: Leisa – as lentils are called in Swabian – are demanding. So to produce lentils economically, 130 farmers in the Swabian Alb have joined forces and set up the organic producers’ association Alb-Leisa. Their lentil harvests are processed and marketed by a company called Lauteracher Alb-Feld-Früchte.

How can we use artificial intelligence (AI) to make comprehensible medical decisions? A new project at the University of Mannheim, which has received funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), will analyze this question.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive and deadly form of breast cancer with limited treatment options. Tumor growth and relapse of TNBC are driven by breast cancer stem cells, and improved therapies that can eliminate those hardy cells are urgently needed. Researchers from the University of Frieburg discovered that coordinated differentiation and changes in the metabolism of breast cancer stem cells make them invisible for…

European Bioplastics (EUBP) begrüßt die von der Europäischen Kommission verabschiedeten Entwürfe für neue Verpackungs- und Biokunststoffvorschriften. „Wir begrüßen das erste umfassende politische Rahmenwerk der Kommission für innovative Biokunststoffe, das deren Potenzial für einen positiven Beitrag zur Umwelt anerkennt.

Expert interview on NTDs – part 1 - 11/04/2019

Neglected tropical diseases – Carsten Köhler: impulses from Baden-Württemberg

More than one billion people worldwide suffer from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). NTDs are mostly poverty-related infectious diseases that prevail in tropical countries due to lack of research and measures to detect, prevent and control them. Dr. Dr. Carsten Köhler reports on the political, economic and scientific contributions Germany and Baden-Württemberg can make to successfully change this situation.

Dossier - 31/03/2014

Peptides diverse molecules of life

Peptides exist in all organisms, wherever there are cells. The range of their physiological functions is huge. Biologically active peptides can act as hormones, neurotransmitters, growth factors as well as toxins and antibiotics. This is what makes them highly interesting drug leads. They are used for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, cancer and other diseases. Peptides are gaining in importance as candidates for drugs.