Alongside fats and carbohydrates, proteins are the main nutrients that the human body needs. Proteins serve as a building material for cells and tissue, can repair bones and tissue or control metabolic processes in the body as an enzyme. Researchers have therefore been endeavouring for years to recreate proteins on the computer and give them better properties. An international research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed a new method for designing proteins. 

Climate change and dwindling resources are already posing major challenges for industry today. The industrial bioeconomy offers solutions for replacing fossil fuels with renewable raw materials, closing cycles and thus contributing to a resource-efficient and climate-neutral industry.

The agriculture of the future faces major challenges: Climate change, scarcity of resources and the need for sustainable production methods require innovative solutions. New technologies offer enormous opportunities, particularly in viticulture, a traditional industry that is heavily dependent on environmental conditions. Two pioneering projects at the University of Koblenz show how modern digital innovations and precise, data-driven approaches can make viticulture not only more efficient, but also more resilient to climate change.

Electrochaea GmbH is using a promising technology to make the production and, above all, storage of sustainably produced gas even more efficient. It involves microorganisms that are billions of years old, known as archaea, which act as biocatalysts in the conversion of electricity into gas. Following demonstration plants in Denmark, Switzerland and the USA, a biomethanisation plant will now also be built in Japan. According to Electrochaea, a corresponding five-year licence agreement has been concluded with the Japanese energy company Hitachi.

So-called antigen tests have been common knowledge since the coronavirus pandemic at the latest. They have long been used in medical diagnostics to detect certain viruses in saliva, blood or urine. However, the antibodies required for this are largely derived from animal cells or living animals. Now the Hanover-based start-up Phaeosynt wants to produce antibodies from algae. The German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) is funding the project with 125,000 euros.

The state of the forests is worrying. Many trees are suffering from drought, pests and storms. The consequences of climate change have already clearly left their mark on spruce, pine, beech and oak trees – according to the latest forest condition report. According to the report, four out of five trees are diseased. A new analysis method developed at Munich University of Applied Sciences could help to protect the forest ecosystem and prevent further damage.

Climate change, water and resource scarcity, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, but also population growth and food waste are putting the current food system under severe pressure across Europe. Sustainable food and nutrition security is therefore one of the major challenges of the future.