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The Bioeconomy Council of the German Government had invited delegates from all over the world to Berlin to attend this first Global Bioeconomy Summit from 24 - 26 November. At the end, the participants agreed on a final communiqé, highlighting five priorities. Summing up with regard to the Sustainable Development Summit in New York and the upcoming climate negotiations in Paris, Christine Lang, Co-Chair of the Bioeconomy Council, said, "Sustainability is one of the top issues on the political agenda. 2015 is the year of major international negotiations.

To avoid competition with food production, the EU research consortium "Bioconsept" was launched four years ago. Bioconsept is 13 million euro EU-funded research project, which converts second-generation biomass into valuable platform chemicals and bioplastics. It has developed manufacturing processes for two platform chemicals, which are derived from inedible biomass – such as wood or old vegetable oil.

Lactic acid bacteria, also known as lactobacilli, are in popular demand as aids and additives in the food industry. However, these useful microorganisms have considerably more potential, as the Organobalance company from Berlin has demonstrated in a clinical study. In its own proprietary collection of bacteria and yeast strains, the Organobalance researchers have now found an organism that can help to soothe dry skin: the bacterium Lactobacillus brevis DSMZ17250.

Floods and droughts are presenting increasing challenges for agriculture throughout the world. For many years, therefore, research efforts have been focussed on the search for more resistant plants that can cope with the environmental challenges. "To do this, we need to gain a better understanding of important crop plants such as rice, which is reckoned to be the world's most important source of food," explains Michael Riemann of the Molecular Cell Biology working group at the KIT's Botanical Institute.

With its 'high-tech strategy', the German government has paved the way for more sustainable economic activities. But how can the topic of sustainability be anchored more firmly in Germany whilst at the same time strengthening the country’s position as an innovation and technology hub? This is the question that the 'Sustainable Management' ('Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften') Expert Forum, part of the German government's Hightech Forum advisory group, has put at the top of its agenda.

A single gene regulates the length of female reproductive organs, thus helping avoid self-fertilisation. This discovery means that plant geneticists working with Michael Lenhard at the Institute for Biochemistry and Biology at the University of Potsdam have solved a centuries-old puzzle. Together with colleagues from England, Switzerland and Japan, the researchers wrote up their findings in the scientific journal eLife. The gene produces an enzyme that subtly alters the flower's hormonal balance.

“There is not a single global bioeconomy. It's local by nature.” According to the Lodz Declaration of Bioregions, drafted at the European Bioeconomy Congress Lodz 2016 and published by stakeholders of the Central and Eastern Regions today, the bioeconomy must be first developed in local biocommunities, i.e. biovillages, biocities or bioregions.

The research initiative coordinated by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) aims at quantifying the sensitivity of ecosystem functions and their subsequent ecosystem services to environmental pressures in representative agriculturally dominated landscapes in Europe. The project receives funding within the BiodivERsA/FACCE initiative.

This gives the new TUM School of Bioengineering (MSB) a strong accent as an Integrative Research Center. Synthetic biotechnology integrates the methodological research approaches of biochemistry, bioinformatics, catalysis, and industrial or “white” biotechnology. The scientific groundwork was done by a research team headed by the chemist Prof.

With the inauguration of the TUM Catalysis Research Center (CRC) at the Garching campus, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) wants to advance catalysis research. Scientists from different departments at the TUM will collaborate with industry partners at the CRC to research new ways of using the catalysts for a sustainable economy. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) contributed €84 million to the total construction cost of the newly erected facility.