Bioeconomy

Dossier - 30/09/2014

Industrial biotechnology: a challenging change to the raw material base

Biogenic raw materials have never been as popular as they are now. Efforts to tap renewable carbon resources are already underway, despite the fact that new oil drilling technologies are boosting fossil fuel stockpiles. In the medium term, industry will have to expand its raw materials base, and in the long term it may have to renew it completely. Industrial biotechnology is one of the key technologies in the transition from an economy based on…

Article - 22/09/2014

Heike Frühwirth brings engineering methods into the hype about algae

Heike Frühwirth is not terribly taken by the euphoria surrounding the potential of algae. She knows better as she has become aware of the potential pitfalls from her own personal experience. Frühwirth was born in the Austrian city of Graz where she also studied process engineering. She has been in charge of process engineering under the industrial biotechnology study programme at Biberach University of Applied Sciences since 2012. She specializes…

Article - 25/08/2014

Production of synthetic polymers from algae oil

Algae are rich in valuable substances and can be grown easily, which makes them promising candidates for the sustainable production of raw materials. The work done by Prof. Dr. Stefan Mecking at the University of Konstanz in cooperation with plant physiologist Prof. Dr. Peter Kroth, confirms this. The two scientists have developed a method to transform algae oil into high-quality chemical raw materials which can, amongst other things, be used for…

Article - 04/08/2014

Top-class plant research in Tübingen

The German Max Planck Institutes are world leaders in the area of plant research. Prof. Dr. Detlef Weigel Director of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen makes a major contribution to this success. Using Arabidopsis thaliana as model system Weigel studies the molecular mechanisms that enable plants to adapt to environmental conditions and those that underlie plant immunity. He has…

Dossier - 16/06/2014

Biotechnology as a tool for the production of food

Biotechnology opens up numerous opportunities for the food industry. The targeted use of biotechnological methods can, amongst other things, help reduce the quantity and number of unhealthy ingredients in foods as well as degrade allergenic substances. Genomic research and targeted breeding also greatly facilitate progress in agriculture. Food biotechnology therefore contributes significantly to saving resources, optimising harvest yields and…

Article - 14/04/2014

WEHRLE Umwelt GmbH: Smart process water treatment reduces operating costs

Reducing energy consumption by 8,000 kWh and being able to generate 15,000 kWh of electrical power per day can save 500,000 euros operating costs in a year, as a project carried out by WEHRLE Umwelt GmbH on behalf of a pharmaceutical company found. WEHRLE Umwelt has been working with environmental technologies for over 30 years, principally focussing on plants for industrial wastewater treatment. The company offers intelligent solutions that are…

Dossier - 16/12/2013

Microbial raw material recycling

While the use of biotechnological methods for the purification of water, soil and air has already been state of the art for quite a few years, the use of microorganisms for the recovery of metal and mineral raw materials from industrial and agricultural waste has also started to attract the interest of scientists. This dossier addresses this topic, explains what geobiotechnology and urban mining are all about and presents some of the activities…

Article - 09/12/2013

Biological soil remediation: phytoremediation with plants and their associated microbes

Prof. Dr. Andreas Kappler and his team of researchers from the University of Tübingen are exploring how cadmium and other harmful metal compounds can be removed from soil. The principle is based on the ability of bacteria to break up cadmium-containing soil particles the released cadmium is then taken up by the plants and removed as the plants are pruned and disposed of.

Dossier - 09/12/2013

Industrial biotechnology – biological resources for industrial processes

Industrial or white biotechnology uses microorganisms and enzymes to produce goods for industry, including chemicals, plastics, food, agricultural and pharmaceutical products and energy carriers. Renewable raw materials and increasingly also waste from agriculture and forestry are used for the manufacture of industrial goods.

Dossier - 18/11/2013

Innovative textiles made possible by biotechnology

Biotechnology plays a part in many high-tech fabrics that have become an integral part of our everyday life. Whether it is products for the treatment of wounds, fabrics for marquees or for clothing, many materials have been developed or are produced using biotechnological techniques and processes. Many products marketed as “micro” or “nano” are inspired by nature. The current topic of the month addresses different aspects of innovative textiles…

Article - 11/11/2013

Little support for beetle legs thanks to cuticular folds

Dr. Bettina Prüm Dr. Holger Bohn and Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck from the Botanic Garden of the University of Freiburg have discovered the mechanisms that prevent beetles from sticking to specifically structured leaf surfaces. In cooperation with the Freiburg Centre for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies FIT the researchers are now planning to apply natures smart strategy to the design of structures that help prevent insect pests from…

Press release - 16/10/2013

BIOTECHNICA 2013 - Baden-Württemberg is a top life sciences spot.

The BIOTECHNICA trade show rolled out the red carpet for its exhibitors. Over 10,000 visitors walked over the carpet to inspect the exhibits that were on display at the Baden-Württemberg booth. The impressive exhibits of the companies showed that Baden-Württemberg has many highly innovative SMEs in the life sciences field.

Dossier - 23/09/2013

Bioeconomy: a new model for industry and the economy

On the one hand, a bioeconomy relies on renewable resources to meet society’s need for food, energy and industrial products. On the other, it emphasises the role of biogenic material flows. The bioeconomy model is expected to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels in the long term. In order to implement the shift from a fossil-based economy to a biobased economy on the regional level, the Baden-Württemberg government launched the Bioeconomy…

Article - 16/09/2013

Biomass conversion – KIT method takes a pragmatic path

“We can do in ten minutes what nature took millions of years to complete,” said Henning Bockhorn from the Engler-Bunte Institute at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) referring to a method which his team developed for the energy supplier Energie Baden-Württemberg (EnBW). The patented method enables biomass to be converted into a material similar to brown coal. The method is known as “biomass steam processing” (BSP) and is currently being…

Article - 26/08/2013

International procedures for the detection and identification of GM seeds

In Europe the GM contamination threshold must not exceed 0.1. The Agricultural Technology Centre Augustenberg LTZ in Karlsruhe is accredited by the International Seed Testing Association ISTA to carry out international cooperative studies on GM seed analyses in cooperation with ISTA.

Article - 12/08/2013

Baden-Württemberg – strategies for the future of biodiversity conservation

The alarming decline in animal and plant species stands more chance to be stopped by action on local and regional levels than through global conventions. Research and action programmes by German federal and state governments can help preserve biodiversity in Baden-Württemberg.

Press release - 05/08/2013

greenovation Biotech GmbH – production of therapeutic proteins in moss

Plants can be genetically modified in a way that enables them to produce pharmaceutically active proteins for various indications. The small moss Physcomitrella patens is able to produce more complex molecules than bacteria. Moreover, moss is less expensive to grow and less susceptible to pathogenic contaminants than Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. greenovation Biotech GmbH, which has its headquarters in Heilbronn and a branch in Freiburg,…

Article - 15/07/2013

The many facets of biological diversity

A Biodiversity Research Centre has been established in Heidelberg in order to explore the spatio-temporal development of biological diversity and its interaction with constantly changing environmental factors. The centre, in which the Botanic Garden of the University of Heidelberg with its plant inventory and collections also participates, involves scientists from a broad range of different disciplines. Projects range from basic research to…

Article - 24/06/2013

Researchers turn Swabian Alb into open-air laboratory

The Schwäbische Alb or Swabian Alb in southern Germany is one of three locations in Germany where, since 2008, huge numbers of scientists have been exploring the relationship between species diversity, land use and their role for ecosystems processes. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding these huge open-air laboratories, also known as biodiversity exploratories, from 2006 to 2017.

Article - 31/05/2013

Research in Biberach – does the bioeconomy have a purple future?

Rhodospirillum rubrum bacteria have long attracted the interest of biotechnologists due to their ability to produce large quantities of pigments. Microbiologist Hartmut Grammel from Biberach University of Applied Sciences and scientists from the Magdeburg-based Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems are studying the bacterias suitability for the fixation of CO2 with the distant objective of producing organic materials with…

Article - 21/05/2013

Green coal from plants – CO2 neutral and infinite

It is just a matter of time before coal and oil will run out. However, there are, it would seem, ways to counteract this situation. Plants can be turned into fossil energy carriers, with the added advantage that the combustion of plants on average only releases as much CO2 as the plants have previously absorbed from the atmosphere. Professor Andrea Kruse from the University of Hohenheim is developing methods for using whole green plants for the…

Dossier - 25/03/2013

Biotechnology goes automated

Processes that previously required pipetting analysis and production to be carried out manually are increasingly now controlled by automated systems. However this has not necessarily involved a complete reinvention of the wheel instead automation systems used in the plant construction and mechanical engineering sectors are being adapted and optimised for application in the life sciences.

Article - 18/03/2013

Insights into life in the eternal ice

Life can also be found in Arctic and Antarctic ice. Anique Stecher a biologist at Konstanz University is investigating the biodiversity in these areas using samples collected on board a research vessel and then analysing the data using special phylogenetic software. This provides her with a comprehensive inventory of Arctic and Antarctic organisms and with insights into their relationships with each other. The researchers findings make an…

Article - 25/02/2013

Computomics: unlocking the secrets of plant genome sequences

Thanks to the latest generation of sequencing technology, the deciphering of the complete genome of organisms is becoming faster and cheaper. The challenge is to compile the book of life from millions of DNA fragments and unlock the secrets of the human and other organisms. The young bioinformatics company Computomics in Tübingen is doing just this for crops. In contrast to the human genome, the genome of the majority of plants is still a book…

Article - 25/02/2013

Microalgae can produce more than just fuel

Microalgae have played an important role as animal feed or food supplements for decades. They can also produce complex chemical compounds. This so-called material use of microalgae is already a major economic sector. However, when it comes to algal biotechnology, they are almost universally seen as just energy sources.