Chemistry

Whether in food and agriculture, medicine, the chemical, cosmetics or pharmaceutical industry: biotechnology offers enormous innovation potential for many sectors. At the same time, industrial biotechnology in particular opens up ways for sustainable and resource-conserving economic activity and is therefore a key pillar of the bioeconomy. But what does it look like in practice? According to experts, Germany is lagging behind internationally in the industrial application of biotechnological processes.

In biotechnology, microorganisms have long been used to manufacture products for medicine, agriculture or the chemical industry or to boost industrial processes. However, bacteria are also becoming increasingly important in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. New possibilities could now open up in the biotechnological application of bacteria. Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have laid the foundation.

Anaerobic bacteria are among the oldest 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. Anaerobic bacteria are also found in the human intestine, where they have a considerable influence on health. But that's not all. Their special metabolism also makes them sought-after tools in biotechnology. So far, they have played a subordinate role here. With the "AnoxyGen" project, Jena-based natural product researcher Christian Hertweck wants to change this.

Peacock feathers or butterfly wings, such as those of the peacock butterfly, fascinate with their splendid colours. However, it is not pigments that are responsible for this iridescent effect, but tiny structures that reflect the light in a special way. Some bacteria also have the talent to form similarly glittering and iridescent structures. Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence ‘Balance of the Microverse’ at the University of Jena have now taken a closer look at bacterial colonies with this talent.

Polylactic acid – PLA for short – is a bioplastic that is particularly valued for its high rigidity. The range of applications for the bio-based and biodegradable polymers extends from children's toys to dowels and disposable cups to food packaging. Fraunhofer researchers have now expanded the range of applications for PLA with the development of a new type of film material.

Whether in seafood, drinking water or vegetables, microplastics have already been detected in numerous foods. The tiny, barely visible particles are the remnants of plastic waste that ends up in the sea or gets into our food, for example through fertilisers and pesticides from sewage sludge. There are filter technologies to remove microplastics from wastewater. However, the treated water is not completely free of microplastics. Researchers at Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences have now succeeded in doing just that.

Utilising carbon dioxide (CO₂) as an alternative source of carbon is a promising approach to making industrial chemical production processes more climate-friendly and sustainable. In the FUMBIO project, researchers from the Centre for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) at the University of Marburg and the universities in Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern-Landau, led by the chemical company BASF, want to develop such a sustainable production process for the manufacture of the platform chemical fumaric acid.