Thanks to increasingly sophisticated tools, bioengineers can now not only construct individual organisms, but even design complex microbial communities. A team of authors looks into the future of synthetic biology.
The ‘Future Lab Agriculture’ project presents initial results on the concept of spot farming, highlighting both the potential and current obstacles to its use.
Researchers at the University of Tübingen have used CO₂ and green electricity to produce valuable proteins and vitamins that can be used to make meat substitutes.
Good yields and product quality can also be achieved in plant cultivation without the use of synthetic chemical pesticides. This is shown by field trials conducted by the NOcsPS research consortium.
On the former site of Tegel Airport, researchers are testing which plant mix is best suited for so-called evaporation beds and thus for the realisation of sponge cities.
BASF is testing solutions for ‘climate-optimised’ agricultural production with practitioners in field trials around the world. The goal of reducing the carbon footprint by 30% has been achieved in some cases, the company reports.
A research consortium has succeeded in producing laboratory meat from stem cells obtained painlessly from the umbilical cord blood of piglets.
Together with the Thünen Institute, Fraunhofer researchers are developing AI-based software for the microscopic identification of wood species. The aim is to ensure that timber products originate from legal trade.
Retailer REWE is one of the new investors in Berlin start-up Formo: the company, which specializes in animal-free cheese alternatives, has raised fresh capital as part of a Series B financing round.
The Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) and the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) are pooling their expertise in potato research in order to increase the genetic resources of this important food crop.
Fraunhofer researchers have developed a solar module in which individual components are made from renewable raw materials and can be recycled at the end of their service life.
In the newly launched I-Robi project, researchers at Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts want to develop new harvesting and utilization concepts for rushes and demonstrate the potential of this renewable raw material for industry.
The Munich-based power-to-gas company Electrochaea has successfully brought its technology for microbial biomethane production to industrial scale with EU funding from the EIC Accelerator.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research continues to support international cooperation in bioeconomy research. “Bioeconomy International 2025” focuses on alliances with São Paulo/Brazil, Queensland/Australia, Thailand and Vietnam.
German companies that produce meat and dairy alternatives based on plants, fermentation and cell cultures were able to raise a total of EUR 74 million in the first half of 2024, more than twice as much capital as in the whole of 2023.
Last year, Clariant announced the closure of its commercial biorefinery in Podari, Romania. The contract manufacturer Corden BioChem will now take over operations and convert the plant.
The newly developed HypoWave system for hydroponic vegetable cultivation with recycled wastewater is now being used in a large-scale trial on a farm in the district of Gifhorn.
Researchers at the University of Siegen have succeeded in producing a beam construction made of Miscanthus grass that is more resilient than conventional beams made of solid wood.
An international research team led by Heidelberg University has succeeded for the first time in obtaining biocompatible materials from microalgae for high-resolution 3D laser printing.
Researchers from Zittau provide proof that hemp fibers can be a real alternative to glass fibers in composite materials.
