Healthcare industry

Article - 04/10/2010

ANASYN Ozan Gökay – research laboratory for complex tasks

Ozan Gökay, chemical engineer and chemist, has been thinking about setting up his own company for many years. Now he is about to turn his plans into reality and his company ANASYN will start operating in November 2010. The company will focus on analytics, syntheses and biotechnology.

Article - 18/07/2011

JRS – creating sustainability with fibres

Fibres can be used to disintegrate tablets, bind together the ingredients in a formulation and coat substrates. The company J. RETTENMAIER & SÖHNE GmbH+Co.KG has been offering plant fibres, pulp and cellulose for a broad range of applications since 1878. The company now also uses the natural fibres for the fabrication of bioplastics in an effort to contribute to sustainability.

Press release - 29/03/2010

TECNARO GmbH – Thermoplastics made of lignin

TECNARO GmbH who was awarded the Industry Prize 2009 produces sustainable materials for the automotive and packaging industries and also for the manufacturers of furniture toys musical instruments and shoes.

Article - 06/08/2012

SystemsX.ch to fund systems biology research

SystemsX.ch is currently the biggest research initiative in Switzerland to provide financial support and technologies in the field of systems biology research. It is a consortium of twelve Swiss research institutions and universities but also works with non-Swiss institutions including the Baden-Württemberg-based company KNIME GmbH. The initiative is interested in expanding its cooperation with other life sciences companies and universities.

Article - 23/07/2012

Inhospitable niches are a rich source of extremozymes

At first sight nothing much seems to grow in either the Namib desert or the Antarctic. However a closer inspection of the ground a few centimetres below the surface reveals an enormous diversity of organisms. Industry is well aware of this rich source of microorganisms that have something to offer on the molecular level as well as for use in technical applications. So-called extremozymes have long been popular ingredients in cosmetics detergents…

Press release - 05/04/2008

Hezinger Algaetec: Bio-diesel should soon become cheaper

The system exporter Hezinger GmbH wants to act in future as a global supplier of photobioreactors for the breeding of algae in order to promote the extraction of bio-diesel from the vegetable oil of algae as an alternative to the use of wheat rapeseed and maize.

Press release - 10/05/2012

FANCM gene plays key role in inheritance

Scientists of KIT and the University of Birmingham have identified relevant new functions of a gene that plays a crucial role in Fanconi anemia, a life-threatening disease. The FANCM gene is known to be important for the stability of the genome. Now, the researchers found that FANCM also plays a key role in the recombination of genetic information during inheritance. For their studies, the scientists used thale cress as a model plant. Their…

Article - 19/03/2012

Soil bacteria to produce new antibiotics

An ever-growing number of genomes of soil bacteria of the genus Streptomyces are being sequenced. Using a method known as “genome mining”, researchers at the University of Tübingen are working on the identification of gene clusters that have the potential to be used in industrial biotechnology for the production of new antibiotics and other pharmaceutically active substances. To achieve this, the biosynthesis gene clusters are integrated into…

Press release - 28/11/2011

BIOTECHNICA 2011: science delegations from China to visit BIOPRO booth

For the first time scientists from Baden-Württembergs partner province Jiangsu P.R. China and Shanghai displayed research posters and discussed their work and potential areas of cooperation.

Article - 19/09/2011

Uwe Ludewig and the future of agricultural crops

Prof. Dr. Uwe Ludewig has been head of the Department of Nutritional Crop Physiology at the University of Hohenheim for around a year now. Physicist by training and specialist in electrophysiology, Prof. Ludewig now works mainly on transport processes in plants. He plans to use molecular relationships to enhance the potential of agricultural crops, reduce the use of fertilisers and make agricultural plants fit for climate change.

Press release - 02/09/2011

Environment Action Programme evaluated

Major accomplishments in the field of environment during the past ten years have been the extension of the Natura 2000 network to cover almost 18 of the EUs land area the introduction of a comprehensive chemicals policy and policy action on climate change.

Article - 22/08/2011

IHB – Textile research that leads to new applications

Innovative medical textiles can offer clear advantages when it comes to improvements in delivering modern health care systems. The Institute for Hygiene and Biotechnology (IHB) at the Hohenstein Institute is currently involved in the development of new fibre-based materials for successful applications in the private and public health sectors. Both natural biopolymers and stem cells have the potential of becoming part of such medical products of…

Press release - 17/05/2010

Bioliq® pilot plant at KIT close to completion

The completion of the bioliq® pilot plant on the northern campus of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is now a certainty. Following the commitment by the German and Baden-Württemberg governments to provide 11 million euros in financing, the KIT has now also signed contracts with companies that will work with KIT in the implementation of the two final processing stages. These two stages involve the production of second-generation…

Deadline for submitting preliminary proposals written in English is the 30th June 2008.

Press release - 18/11/2010

EFSA updates guidance on GM plants

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published updated guidance for the environmental risk assessment (ERA) of Genetically Modified (GM) plants, reflecting the scientific state-of-the-art in this field.

Press release - 05/05/2011

European Commission announces new strategy to halt biodiversity loss

The European Commission presented today a new strategy to protect and improve the state of Europe's biodiversity over the next decade.

Article - 17/01/2011

nadicom GmbH: novel strategies to prove microcrobes guilty

Microscopic life is omnipresent and it also appears in places where it is not wanted. The Karlsruhe-based nadicom Gesellschaft für angewandte Mikrobiologie mbH offers a broad range of services to companies and environmental authorities to help them deal with and control the omnipresence of microorganisms.

Article - 20/12/2010

Gicon: Using controllable biogas production to create virtual power stations

Conventional biogas plants have the disadvantage that the production of energy cannot be controlled in a flexible way. Therefore, Großmann Ingenieur Consult GmbH (GICON) has developed a fast, simple method for controlling biogas production from renewable resources. In addition, the two-stage dry-wet fermentation process with split hydrolysis makes it possible to control the two stages independently. Heribert Krämer, head of the GICON subsidiary…

Article - 10/07/2010

Algae light up industry

The potential of Microalgae cannot yet be optimally used on the large scale. The bioprocess engineer Dr. Rosa Rosello and her team at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT are investigating the conditions under which different microalgae species can optimally grow in photobioreactors and lead to high product yields. It is all a question of light and shade.

Article - 21/05/2010

A small moss turns professional

No standards are available on the proper storage and documentation of sample material areas in which every research group does what suits it best. However in February 2010 the International Moss Stock Centre IMSC was established at the University of Freiburg and is rapidly changing this situation. Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Ralf Reski have developed a method that enables them to store biological material in a cryobank for an indefinite period…

The German Bundestag gave the go ahead for the new version of the German Genetic Engineering Law. The new version incorporates the introduction of the Not genetically engineered label as well as stricter regulations on the cultivation of genetically modified plants.

Whether it be syringes biodegradable joint screws or cannules for catheters - hospitals prefer high quality plastics that are not too costly. Pfaff GmbH from Waldkirch has the know-how and the technical ability to manufacture such plastics parts.

Some 30000 chemicals currently in use have to be pre-registered at the ECHA between 1st June and 1st December 2008.

Article - 09/06/2008

Moderate growth

In 2007 the German biotechnology sector was marked by moderate growth. Turnover climbed over two billion euros and research and development expenditure reached one billion euros. These are the central findings of the latest company survey carried out by biotechnologie.de.

Article - 01/06/2008

Plants as soil remediators

Max Planck scientists and researchers at the University of Heidelberg have discovered a gene that enables certain plants to grow on soils with high heavy metal concentrations and that even contributes to the soils remediation. The gene product is a transport protein in the cell membrane.