The CRISPR-Cas system is a revolutionary and unique genome editing tool. It is the basis for countless new molecular research projects. And especially the applied research in the biotechnology sector is benefiting from the new approach – which is why it is being hailed as a remarkable breakthrough worldwide. There are currently a number of global projects underway that are investigating how best to apply the genome editing tool – medical researchers and plant breeding programs alike are testing and applying the new method.

April 22 has been dubbed “Earth Day” since 1970, when millions of Americans first demonstrated for a healthy and sustainable environment. Since then the movement has only grown and taken on major issues such as global warming and clean energy.

The top coat of cars has to fulfil many requirements – it has to be scratch resistant, protect against sunlight and inclement weather, and also has to give the car a glossy appearance. Now, for the first time, a clearcoat containing a bio-based hardener was applied to test bodies of the Audi Q2 under near-series conditions at the Audi plant in Ingolstadt, Germany. A project team consisting of members from Audi, BASF’s Coatings division, and the materials company Covestro achieved this milestone.

Molecular structures are the building blocks of every organism. But because of their minute size, they are extremely difficult to visualize. A team of Dortmund-based researchers headed by Leif Dehmelt at the Technical University and Yaowen Yu at the Chemical Genomics Center of the Max Planck Society developed a new method to depict the inner workings of a cell.

Half of the total global carbon dioxide stock is stored within the tropical vegetation, which only serves to worsen the consequences of tropical deforestation. Every year approximately 1,000 million metric tons of carbon dioxide are released due to deforestation. However, instead of complete forest removal, oftentimes the forests are fragmented into many smaller forest-areas.

The genome-editing tool CRISPR-Cas is one of the most groundbreaking developments for the field of molecular biotechnology throughout the last decades. Researchers worldwide are free to use this tool. However, the economical use is another matter: companies have to acquire licences from the institutes that patented the innovation.

Amsilk GmbH is the world’s first industrial supplier of synthetic silk biopolymers and aims to make the new uber-material available for use in medical or technical products as well as cosmetics. The Martinsried-based start-up engineered bacteria to produce the spider silk polymer. Those microbes are now producing the coveted proteins in large quantities. Using this white protein powder the bioengineers even manage to produce synthetic fibres.

Without a doubt, salmon is one of the most popular edible fish of all. Ever more and bigger salmon farms and aquacultures are being build to manage the demand – but not without risk for the environment. For years, Chile has been ranked second behind Norway in the list of key salmon producers worldwide. The country produces approximately 820,000 tonnes of salmon with a total value of about five billion US dollars. How does this mass production affect the environment?

Nano-technicians can construct fascinating structures with the double-stranded DNA molecule. Based on the principle of base-pairing, distinct DNA sections can be programmed to interact with other DNA segments. This method allows for the construction of molecular nanostructures. In recent years this so-called “DNA-Origami”-technique has gained more and more recognition. If the DNA is programmed accordingly, the molecule will even morph into three-dimensional nano-building blocks and nano-machines.