The fight against cancer is a pressing issue. Although technological advances in the treatment, prevention and early detection of cancer have improved over the past few decades, the number of people affected is increasing. Cancer medicine now wants to counteract this by joining forces with other players involved in the field.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/translation-driver-cancer-medicineYuri, a start-up company founded in 2019 in the Lake Constance area, is aiming high. The company’s mission is to enable microgravity research into the development of materials, new medicines and vaccines, including research opportunities on the International Space Station (ISS). Yuri’s tailor-made solutions are faster and more affordable than previous space research missions.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/reaching-up-into-weightlessness-a-start-up-enables-commercial-research-experiments-in-spaceNovoCarbo GmbH produces biochar from plant residues such as wood chips, nutshells and manure. Different feedstocks, and the way these materials are processed, create biochars with different properties. This makes biochar suitable for different uses, including as a soil conditioner, in biogas plants or as bedding for stables and cowsheds. The Rhizo-Linse project is currently investigating whether biochar is also suitable as inoculant carrier for…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/novocarbo-turns-plant-waste-into-biocharThe SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus uses a spike protein to bind to the ACE2 receptor on the cell surfaces of lung tissue. Additional cofactors are needed to allow the virus genome to penetrate human cells and multiply. Knowing these relationships can help understand the course of the infection and develop counterstrategies. To this end, the Constance-based company Trenzyme has produced a recombinant spike protein to support coronavirus research.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/the-sars-cov-spike-protein-and-its-receptorHow can scientists turn their know-how into marketable products and services and thereby provide society with real added value? In addition to solid financing, start-up companies need a suitable infrastructure and a dense network of partners for exchanging expertise to help them get off to a good start when it comes to setting up a business. The Heidelberg Technology Park offers company founders in the life sciences exactly these success factors.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/start-up-support-for-life-sciences-companiesBiomass from forestry and agriculture along with residues from industry and households can contribute to our energy and raw material shift. Sustainable, regenerative biomass-based energy can become part of the energy mix of the future within the framework of a bioeconomy.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/Sustainable-bioenergyEvery year, around 11 million people die of sepsis (blood poisoning) caused by microorganisms or microbial residues, known as pyrogens, entering the bloodstream. The smallest amounts can trigger fever. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart have developed a pyrogen test that does not require a laboratory and is not tested on animals. It is expected to be placed on the market soon.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/A-rapid-pyrogen-test-the-human-immune-system-as-modelGiven the challenges faced by modern agriculture, it is vital to raise people’s awareness of how to change their approach to food. The founders of the Stuttgart-based start-up company farmee GmbH see urban agriculture as the key to making this change possible. The company has developed “alphabeet”, an app designed to encourage consumers to produce their own food. After all, only those combining knowledge and practical experience can be expected…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/alphabeet-the-green-fingered-smartphonePrime Vector Technologies GmbH (PVT), a start-up company based in Tübingen in southern Germany, uses a modular brick system to develop vaccines against cancer and infectious diseases. The PVT team is currently working flat out to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/mit-einem-impfstoffbaukasten-gegen-covid-19Sensor networks are one of the keys to achieving digitalisation of the bioeconomy. Sensor networks are on the way to becoming important analysis and control instruments for energy-efficient and sustainable material cycles. Dieter Hertweck, Professor of Business Information Systems at Reutlingen University of Applied Sciences, shows what is already possible in digital agriculture and waste recycling and what is feasible for the future.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/Sensors-for-the-bioeconomyThe CRISPR-Cas gene-editing technology is one of the most important developments in molecular biology in recent years. It utilises molecular scissors with which nucleic acids can be cut and edited almost arbitrarily. Researchers in Freiburg, Germany have now successfully used the technology for diagnostic purposes. They are currently working intensively on expanding the system to enable it to detect genome sequences of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/Diagnostics-with-molecular-scissors-is-this-also-possible-for-on-site-COVID-19-testsThere is currently no cure for multiple sclerosis, the most common neurological autoimmune disease in humans. Biopharmaceuticals that can delay the course of the disease or diminish its effects are often prevented from being fully effective by the blood-brain barrier. A European consortium led by the Fraunhofer IGB, Stuttgart is developing a new technology that can transport an innovative active ingredient directly to the central nervous system.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/Direct-application-of-biopharmaceuticals-through-the-nose-into-the-brainResearchers around the world are working frantically on the development of a vaccine against the new coronavirus. A project by the Tübingen-based biotechnology company CureVac, funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), uses the company’s technology platform for mRNA-based vaccines to accelerate vaccine development, thus contributing to the future prevention of the disease.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/Waiting-for-a-SARS-CoV-2-vaccineLentils were once considered poor man’s food, but in Germany demand for them has never been greater. And to satisfy this growing demand, more lentils need to be cultivated. This is why the University of Hohenheim is involved in the EIP-AGRI "Rhizo-Linse" project. The aim of the project is to find rhizobia strains that go well with lentil plants to increase yield and improve quality.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/University-of-Hohenheim-wants-to-improve-the-conditions-for-lentil-cultivationDecentralised, controllable and stable - renewable energy is an important component in the transition to a bioeconomy without fossil fuels. BIOPRO spoke to PD Dr. Andreas Lemmer from the State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy at the University of Hohenheim and Prof. Dr. Stefan Pelz, scientific director of the Institute for Applied Research and professorat the University of Applied Forest Sciences Rottenburg.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/New-perspectives-for-bioenergyA “living pharmacy” crawls on the ocean floor off the coastline that stretches from Southern California to Mexico: biosyn Arzneimittel GmbH, a pharmaceutical company based in the city of Fellbach in southern Germany, produces a drug to treat bladder cancer, using the haemolymph, a vertebrate fluid equivalent to blood, of Megathura crenulata, commonly known as a giant keyhole limpet.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/medicine-from-blue-blood-marine-snailsGlioblastoma is a malignant brain tumour. It does not respond anywhere near as well to conventional forms of therapy than other tumours because it contains particularly resistant cancer cells. Scientists at the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT) at Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center have shown that heavy ion therapy is effective against these cells.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/Brain-tumour-patients-could-benefit-from-heavy-ion-therapyPlastics are harmful to the climate and human health both during manufacture and combustion and they also clutter our planet with garbage. Recycling is therefore a key issue, but it is not efficient. Polysecure has developed a process for permanently marking individual plastics that enables them to be separated efficiently and returned to a circular economy. This would counteract the vast amount of (micro) plastics and reduce CO₂ emissions.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/recycling-of-the-future-marked-plastic-as-a-circular-productEco-friendly and responsibly manufactured products are more in demand than ever before. Specific research is being carried out into materials and applications for a wide variety of uses. The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB is working with Hermetia Baruth GmbH on the vision of an insect biofactory that uses waste materials to produce a wide range of products such as biosurfactants, animal feed or foils.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/A-vision-insect-biorefineries-as-components-of-a-sustainable-bioeconomyLentil plants, rarely cultivated in Central Europe in the twentieth century, are making a comeback. The "Rhizo-Linse"1 EIP-AGRI project aims to reintroduce old lentil varieties and make them appealing to farmers. A company called nadicom Gesellschaft für angewandte Mikrobiologie mbH is working on the development of an ecological product consisting of nodule bacteria that can improve lentil plant growth.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/nadicom-Rhizo-Linse-project-excellent-small-fertiliser-factoriesPeople have 1.3 times more microorganisms than body cells. This microbial community influences how we digest our food, how active our immune system is, as well as whether we tend to be more anxious or curious. A number of diseases have also been shown to be associated with a disturbed microbiome. Researchers still have a long way to go before the knowledge acquired can be used for developing therapies.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/microbiome-human-health-closely-connected-with-microbial-communities
