Biotechnology/Systems biology

Spent grain, which is a by-product of beer brewing, contains many valuable ingredients. With its high protein content, spent grain can be used as animal feed, for example. In reality, however, it is usually disposed of as waste. Researchers have now discovered the residual material as a source of raw materials for new biobased products. Researchers at the University of Jena, for example, have joined forces with Spanish partners to test whether brewer's grains are also suitable for the production of modern electrochemical energy storage systems.

Photosynthesis is the basis of all plant life: plants use the chemical reaction chain to build biomass from carbon dioxide in the air and solar energy. Of central importance in this process are the so-called photosystems I and II - enzyme complexes that catalyze the chemical reactions. For a long time, researchers have been trying to technically imitate photosynthesis in order to produce chemical compounds cheaply and sustainably.

Do you know the smell of rapeseed fields? If so, then you know what indole smells like. Not only rapeseed produces this characteristic smelling molecule, but many microorganisms use it in their metabolism. In order for the microorganisms to form important compounds from it, they must first activate the indole. This is done by an enzyme called indole monooxygenase. Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the University of Leipzig have now studied the structure and interaction of this enzyme with its substrate and the cofactor required for the reaction.

Whether in cosmetics, detergents or cleaning agents: Surfactants can be found in many products. Today, however, the molecules should not only be more effective and skin-friendly than in the past, but also biodegradable and produced from renewable raw materials. Researchers in the LipoPep joint project have taken up these challenges. Under the leadership of TH Köln, research has been conducted over the past three years into how renewable raw materials from native plants such as lupins, sunflowers and rapeseed can be used to produce surfactants.

Aniline is an important component in the production of the plastic polyurethane, which is used for numerous everyday products such as mattresses or insulating materials. Until now, the chemical has been produced mainly on the basis of petroleum. Covestro, as one of the world's leading aniline producers, is breaking new ground. The Leverkusen-based materials manufacturer wants to produce the important chemical from plant biomass. The foundations for this were laid in recent years as part of the Bio4PUR and Bio4PURPro projects.

Genome mining - the systematic search of genomes - is the focus of an Emmy Noether Fellowship from the German Research Foundation (DFG). Natural product genomicist Eric Helfrich of the LOEWE Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics is receiving it to use artificial intelligence methods to discover natural products for medicine, food production or agriculture in novel ways. "Peptide Biosynthesis Off the Beaten Path: Machine Learning-based Identification of Unusual Peptide Natural Products" is the name of the project launched in January.

In 2013, AMSilk became the world's first company to produce biotechnologically manufactured spider silk modeled on nature. Founded in 2008 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich, the company uses transformed bacteria to produce the spider silk proteins. The microbial production and processing of the biodegradable silk protein requires only sugar from renewable plants, water, minerals and energy.

Plastics are versatile and durable - but it is precisely their durability that poses a problem: petroleum-based plastics decompose only incompletely or not at all, thus polluting the environment. However, it is not yet possible to do without plastics altogether. That's why researchers around the world are looking for ways to recycle petroleum-based plastics. So far, only a small portion of the world's plastic waste is recycled. By identifying new biocatalysts, researchers have now paved the way for sustainable recycling of plastic waste.

A handful of soil contains more microorganisms than there are people on earth. Bacteria, fungi, algae and protozoa make up around 70 % of the biomass and are particularly valuable for agriculture and forestry: they supply plants with nutrients, shape soil structure, improve water storage and promote plant growth. In addition, the microbial community has a decisive influence on the carbon cycle in the soil and thus on the importance of the resource as a carbon sink.

Without microorganisms, there would be no bread, no cheese, no beer and no wine. The metabolic capabilities of bacteria, yeasts and molds are of particular importance with regard to a sustainable economy. With their help, renewable raw materials can be converted into new substances and customized products for the bioeconomy. Industrial biotechnology has therefore been using microorganisms as production factories for the manufacture of chemicals, drugs, vaccines or fuels for decades.