Denmark’s Novozymes has acquired microbial research company Organobalance GmbH. The Berlin-based company owns a large collection of microbial strains, some of which date back to the 1920s, and has strong capabilities in microbial screening and assay technology.
The German biobased economy is on the road to success. That is underlined by the progress report of the German National Policy Strategy Bioeconomy.
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, is one of the worst environmental disasters of recent year. After the explosion at the BP operated drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, an estimated 800 million litres of crude oil spilled into the sea.
Algae have many talents. They are not only important ingredients for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry; it has now been proven that the tiny green microorganisms can also be used as a suitable alternative source for the aviation fuel kerosene.
Garden plant remains will soon be used to barbeque – even in German gardens.
Waterproof items are popular with the young and old. However, the waterproof layer made from chemicals is does not degrade well.
The bioeconomy – economy based on biological knowledge and resources can help to achieve key points of the UN sustainability goals and is central to the implementation of climate and sustainable goals.
Buildings are built to last, at least that is the intention. Over time, however, moisture can destroy the mortar that binds together bricks or stones, for example, when cracks from as a result of frost.
It could be one of the largest acquisitions in the chemical industry. Yet the planned Bayer billion dollar takeover of Monsanto is faltering.
These voices have weight. The debate on genetically modified plants in agriculture has garnered new nourishment from the ranks of top-level research. In an open letter to the governments, 110 Nobel Prize winners, including six German Laureates, have campaigned for the deployment of green genetic engineering.
Thanks to new innovations, and not just in biotechnology, speciality chemical company Evonik has increased the value of its innovation projects by half a billion euros.
The world of oceans and seas is the focus of the current Science Year 2016*17. It also wants people to be made aware of the largest ecosystem on Earth, which as a result of global warming, economic efficiency and pollution, is under immense environmental pressure.
Chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer have formed an agreement with US aerospace company Planetary Resources to develop applications and products based on satellite imagery.
The agenda of the Open Source Circular Economy Days (OSCE Days) held in Berlin from 9 to 13 June showed how a circular economy without waste can work in practice.
The primary mission of the new EU-funded BiodivERsA project "STACCATO" is to advance the long-term sustainable development of land use systems against risks of global change.
The Technical University of Munich is expanding its activities in the area of synthetic biology in teaching and research. With a grant of €11.5 million, the Werner Siemens Foundation has kick-started the launch of the teaching and research domain Synthetic Biotechnology at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
Catalysts such as enzymes can stimulate chemical processes. They are also the key to transforming chemical substances in efficient and resource-saving ways. The sustainable potential of these helpful compounds for the global economy is huge.
Specialty chemical manufacturer Evonik plans to increase its use of sustainably produced ingredients for cosmetics in the future.
The Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) announced the results of the first study on the European bioeconomy at its general assembly.
Spurned by Swiss Syngenta earlier this year, Monsanto is still looking to expand. According to press reports, the US agribusiness giant is in talks with Bayer concerning the German company’s seed and crop protection business.
German chemicals giant BASF is negotiating with Dutch chemical technology company Avantium to launch a joint venture producing polymer building blocks from renewable resources.
Since the discovery of the gene editing technique CRISPR/CAS9, the celebrated genetic “scissors” have become a staple of the genome editing toolbox, along with other methods such as TALENS and ZFNs.
Chicory is popular as a lettuce for its slightly bitter taste and can be eaten raw, baked, roasted or stuffed. Favoured for its yellowish-white creamy head of leaves, chicory is grown underground in the absence of sunlight to prevent the leaves turning green or opening up, with only the tips of the leaves showing above the surface.
The residents of these high-rise buildings are not your usual inner city residents – tomatoes grow on the fifth floor, herbs and cucumbers on the third. This is how engineers from the German Center for Aerospace (DLR) in Bremen imagine agriculture of the future.
Hessen-based company Brain AG has almost made the jump from technology startup to listed company, in spite of recent turbulence on the stock market.
Lithium-ion batteries are the energy source for many electronic devices. But the alkaline material is expensive and its extraction is damaging to the environment. A much more environment friendly and cost effective alternative, however, are sodium-ion batteries.
The International Green Week is once again in full swing. From 15th to 24th January the exhibition halls below the Berlin Radio Tower are dedicated to everything to do with agriculture, nutrition and horticulture.
After rice, wheat and maize are the most important food crops worldwide. But climate change threatens the harvest and consequently the global food production for a growing world population.
The Hessen town of Zwingenberg has been one of the main locations of German industrial biotechnology. Originally a technology start-up, today Brain AG has grown into a corporation of six companies with 240 employees.
Phosphate is not just a vital element for humans, in addition to nitrogen, the mineral is one of the most important plant nutrients. Since Germany does not have its own natural resources, the raw material has to be imported in large quantities from abroad where it is extracted from mines.
Algae are a rich source of valuable substances, which are prized in both the pharma and cosmetic industries. But there’s a lot more than meets the eye with the microscopic organism: their supporting skeletal structure is made from a substance called alginate.
Healthy nutrients are found in many fruits and vegetables, but vast quantities must be consumed to achieve an efficient dose of the natural compounds because they are often low-concentrated in plants.
At the Global Bioeconomy Summit in Berlin, about 700 participants from 82 nations set themselves the goal of increasing the involvement of the bioeconomy in sustainable development and the battle against climate change.
Bioplastics may be biobased, but they are not necessarily environmentally friendly. In addition, the basic chemical building blocks for bioplastic production are still mostly produced from the starchy fruits of agricultural crops.
