As there is a shortage of labour in many places during the harvest, research teams are working on harvesting robots to support agricultural businesses. The Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB) in Potsdam is now testing a new type of 3D laser scanner system developed by researchers at Julius Maximilian University (JMU) in Würzburg. It is designed to accurately record the condition of plants and help determine the right time to harvest. The aim is to improve the sensor technology of robots.

Wood is an important material for the construction industry. However, not all wood waste can be recycled to reuse the raw material. As part of the EU project ‘CIRCULAR-C’, an international research team, including the Steinbeis Europa Centre and the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research, aims to develop innovative bio-based compounds for wood panels, paving the way for a more sustainable and circular construction industry.

Anaerobic microorganisms are among the oldest living organisms on earth. As oxygen is life-threatening for them, they have developed special metabolic pathways that enable them to survive in oxygen-free regions such as the human gut or volcanic swamps. The ability to bind carbon is also particularly efficient in anaerobic microorganisms. The enzyme complex carbon monoxide dehydrogenase/acetyl-CoA synthase (CODH/ACS) plays an important role here.

Robots, sensors, drones and artificial intelligence (AI) already offer agriculture the opportunity to make work in the field and in the barn more efficient and sustainable. The use of these digital helpers is now being specifically supported in Lower Saxony as part of two major projects to drive forward the transformation of the agricultural and food industry in the state.

Whether heat stress or a cold snap: plants often react very sensitively to rapid changes in the weather, resulting in crop losses in agriculture. In order to master the challenges of climate change, it is important to know the mechanisms that take place in plant cells. Researchers at the University of Vienna and the Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTWD) are now providing insights that could be groundbreaking for the breeding of climate-resistant crops.

Europe is to become the world's most attractive location for life sciences by 2030. This is the aim of the new life sciences strategy adopted by the European Commission at the beginning of July. To this end, 10 billion euros are to be made available from the EU budget each year. The aim of the strategy is to utilise the potential of life sciences for health, the environment and the economy in a targeted manner and to strengthen Europe's competitiveness in the global innovation arena.

Pseudomonas syringae is a bacterium that causes various plant diseases and damages agriculture by infecting crops. Like other microorganisms, the bacterium is also able to produce a variety of biologically active natural substances.