Biotechnology/Systems biology

The hidden part of the plant – the tuberous root – that makes up 30% of the plant, however, is discarded. In Europe alone, 800,000 tonnes of chicory roots are generated during the production of chicory salad each year. Currently, after harvesting the chicory leaves, the roots are disposed of as compost or in biogas plants. Wanting to make use of the waste, researchers at the University of Hohenheim have now succeeded in generating hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from the chicory plant’s discarded roots.

Sodium is found naturally and in abundance in nature as table salt. In the search for improved materials for this new generation of batteries, researchers from Ulm Helmholtz Institute of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have struck lucky – on the compost heap. They have developed carbon-based active material for the negative electrodes from apple bio waste. For the positive electrodes, a material made out of layered oxides is used to create the positive cathodes.

Experts from industry expect the global bioplastics production capacity to increase from around 4.2 million tonnes in 2016 to 6.1 million tonnes in 2021, mainly in consumer goods and applications in the transport sector.

Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT Biomedical from the town of Sulzbach have discovered that alginate appears to be the ideal breeding ground for the propagation of pluripotent stem cells. The two types of algae are known as Lessonia trabeculata and Lessonia nigrescens and grow on Chile’s coasts. For the drug tests of the future, the pharma industry and medical research needs large quantities of pluripotent stem cells.

Researchers from the Hohenstein Institute and the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart have discovered a renewable alternative. With the help of water-resistant proteins, so-called hydrophobics, which are stored in the walls of fungi, the researchers hope to create a natural dirt and water blocker for textiles. The joint project has just begun.

A team of scientists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have discovered an unusual way to protect mortar from moisture. When mortar is being mixed, the scientists add a biofilm – a soft, moist substance produced by bacteria, which makes it highly resistant to water absorption. This enables the concrete to self-heal by closing the cracks autonomously.

And to help the company move forward in this endeavour, the Essen-based company has acquired French start-up Alkion Biopharma SAS. The start-up, which is based in Evry, specialises in the creation of biotechnological active ingredients from plant biomass to be used in cosmetics. Alkion Biopharma was founded as a spin-off from the Imperial College in London in 2011. The company has developed methods for cultivating plant biomass under laboratory conditions and obtaining extracts from the biomass with an exceptionally high yield of complex ingredients.