Bioeconomy News

Researchers in Bonn have developed software that can be used to visualise the future growth of arable crops and predict important parameters such as yield.

As part of the European "Green ERA-Hub" initiative, the BMBF is funding innovative approaches for a sustainable bioeconomy. A new round of calls for proposals is focussing on the breeding of resistant crops.

Of the 20 innovation communities selected as part of DATIpilot, two are focussing on innovations in biotechnology and one on textile recycling. The consortia are being funded by the BMBF with up to 5 million euros.

Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum have been able to clarify how the algal enzyme HydF is structured and what role a so-called cofactor plays in the production of hydrogen.

The German Research Foundation is funding a new Collaborative Research Centre at the University of Halle-Wittenberg. The focus is on mutations in the genetic material of plants and how these affect proteins.

The domestication of maize has greatly changed the root system of the food plant. This is the conclusion of a study involving researchers from Bonn. They also identified a gene that is crucial for the breeding of drought-resistant plants.

Experts from science and agricultural practice discussed the key results of the soil research funding programme at the BonaRes conference in Leipzig.

At the BioEconomy Centre Anklam, an alliance of research and business has been established under the name IG Helix, which aims to increase the focus on the use of plant-based raw materials from the region – especially for health products.

More fresh capital flowed into the German biotechnology sector in 2023 than in the previous year. There was also an increase in venture capital investments.

In the BMBF funding programme ‘Agricultural Systems of the Future’, eight large consortia are researching innovative approaches for the sustainable food production of tomorrow. A new brochure, which bioökonomie.de has produced in cooperation with the participants, provides information on their concepts, objectives and successes to date.

The development of new products from plant-based raw materials was the focus of an EU project in which Fraunhofer researchers from the ISC utilised their innovative coating called bioORMOCER for new fields of application – such as shoe soles and vehicles.

The Berlin start-up BettaF!sh will contribute its expertise in the development of new technologies for the production of healthy food from cultivated seaweed to the new EU research project FunSea.

The RhizoTraits joint project aims to investigate the extent to which different mixtures of maize varieties can guarantee higher yields despite climate change. The focus is on the plant's root zone – the rhizosphere.

The Berlin-based biotech start-up Cultimate Foods has raised €2.3 million from investors for the development of cultured fat ingredients to give plant-based meat substitutes an authentic flavour.

Under the leadership of the Rostock-based Alles Alge association, researchers and companies want to jointly develop a system for cultivating macroalgae in the Baltic Sea.

The Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) in Greifswald is receiving millions in funding from the federal and state governments to expand research in the fields of agriculture, bioeconomy and the environment.

Shell Deutschland recently commissioned Germany's largest bio-LNG plant at the Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland in Cologne. A liquefied fuel mixture of biomethane and fossil natural gas is produced here for heavy goods transport.

The start-up Insempra has raised 20 million US dollars in a financing round. The Munich-based company specialises in the biotechnological production of natural ingredients for the food, cosmetics and textile industries.

An international research team with the participation of the University of Bayreuth sees mycoheterotrophic plants as the key to the previously controversial existence of the underground mycorrhizal network in forests.

Can soils be protected from heat, drought and heavy rainfall through reduced cultivation and permanent planting? A research team from Hesse has produced some promising initial results.