Nature is a virtuoso of new biomaterials: Researchers in Mainz have discovered a bio-silicate in marine sponges that is highly suited as a coating for dental and bone implants.

Slumbering in industrial waste and sewage is an abundance of untapped carbons. The ‘ZeroCarbonFootprint’ strategic alliance brings together partners from research and industry with the joint aim of unlocking waste as a source of raw materials for innovative products. The star of the show: some extremely useful microorganisms.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is one of biotechnologists’ most important tools. A new technique can now greatly speed up the molecular copying process.

Components from the sap of the caper spurge plant could be an ingredient in future biofuels. And because the plant grows well in poor soils, there would be no competition with food crops.

New detergent enzymes that can nibble away at unwanted fibrous clumps on synthetic textiles – this is one of the goals of the BMBF-funded strategic alliance ‘Functionalisation of Polymers – FuPol’.

The antibody cocktail ZMapp is seen as the great hope in the fight against Ebola. The therapeutic proteins for the medicine are produced in tobacco plants. The green production technology was developed by the Halle-based company Icon Genetics GmbH, with support from the German Federal Ministry of Research.

The central production facility for the field of biotechnology is the bioreactor. In a BMBF-funded strategic alliance, researchers from industry and academia are working on new strategies to make the complex production processes inside these reactors more efficient and sustainable.

German researchers are working to further develop fluorescence microscopy in a BMBF-funded collaborative project in the area of photonics. Using chemically controlled probes, they hope to shed an entirely fresh light on HIV.

Researchers are working to develop an optical rapid test that is hoped to enable the detection of even the smallest traces of gluten in foods.

Veterinarians have demonstrated the existence of a genetic defect in cattle that can cause infertility in otherwise perfectly healthy bulls. A new genetic test is aimed at improving the selection of breeding animals.