Chemistry

Sustainable colours with iridescent bacteria

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.

Removing microplastics from sewage treatment plants

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.

“Our robust yeast can process a wide range of waste streams”

The Munich-based biotech start-up Insempra GmbH is one of the eight winning teams of the SPRIND Challenge "Circular Biomanufacturing". The CEO and founder of Insempra is Jens Klein, who, like his colleague Lin Römer, once played a leading role at the biotech company AMSilk. The company is receiving millions in funding from the Federal Agency for Leap Innovations SPRIND (with 1.5 million euros in the first year) for the BioTreasure project.

Turning CO2 from industrial emissions into a platform chemical

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.

“Yeasts: developing cell factory alternatives”

Without microorganisms, there would be no bread, no cheese, beer or wine. The metabolic performance of bacteria, yeasts and molds is particularly important with regard to a sustainable economy. With their help, renewable raw materials can be transformed into new substances and customized products for the bioeconomy. Microorganisms are therefore valuable production factories for manufacturing chemicals, medicines, vaccines and fuels. The aim of Lena Hochrein's junior research group TAILOR is to make these cell factories even more efficient.

A more sustainable painkiller

Cannabinoid substances – in the context of the current partial legalisation of cannabis, this somehow sounds like a narcotic. However, many of the 120 or so known cannabinoids are potent painkillers, including delta-9-THC (dronabinol), which doctors prescribe very specifically for certain chronic pains. Because the chemical synthesis used to date is not without its problems, researchers in the BigPharm project are looking for sustainable biotechnological alternatives.

Weatherproof protein-based insecticides

The use of synthetic pesticides such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides is increasing worldwide. As a result, pesticide residues are increasingly found in food and are accumulating in groundwater and drinking water. Synthetic pesticides are also criticised for reducing biodiversity and reducing soil fertility due to their non-specific effect. It is not possible to do without plant protection, but so-called biologics – i.e. bio-based active ingredients – are a sustainable alternative.

DATI innovation communities

Bringing more good ideas into application and thus to companies and people: As a new component of its transfer and innovation promotion programme, the Federal Government intends to promote social and technological innovations in the future by setting up the German Agency for Transfer and Innovation (DATI). As an innovation agency, DATI will be based in Erfurt.

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