Press releases and news 2016

On the invitation of Methanol Market Services Asia, BioCat – the Straubing branch of Fraunhofer IGB – presented a newly developed innovative process for the conversion of carbon dioxide into valuable products at the Methanol Technology and Policy Commercial Congress.

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has announced the winner of a pan-European competition on the Food4Future call: EIT Food. EIT Food will build sustainable end-to-end food supply chains realized through transformative innovation and education initiatives, with a central role for the consumer. EIT Food has broad coverage in EU member states and associated countries and is a unique partnership of 50 leading companies, universities, and scientific partners covering the entire food value chain. With the consumers as change agents, each of them is committed to jointly transform the way in which we currently produce, distribute and consume our food. Over the next seven years, the partners will invest close to 1.2 billion euros matched with up to 400 million euros financed by the EIT.

Microbial pathogens can be diagnosed unambiguously and within just 24 hours by means of high-throughput sequencing of their genetic makeup and special bioinformatics evaluation algorithms. Fraunhofer researchers have validated this in a clinical study with sepsis patients. The researchers present the NGS diagnosis platform at Medica in Düsseldorf from November 14–17, 2016.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) regulates all important cell functions and is an interesting biomaterial for scientists. Fraunhofer has developed an ECM that contains artificial chemical groups which supports natural cell behaviour outside the body. It can be applied as a stable coating on implants or be used in cell culture dishes.

Fraunhofer researchers have developed a process for the manufacturing of high-quality plastics from terpenes, a waste stream of the cellulose production. They will present their new bioplastic and its possible applications from October 19 – 26 at the K 2016 trade fair in Düsseldorf. Visitors can find the joint Fraunhofer booth in Hall 7, Booth SC01.

Wine harvesting season is a challenge for wastewater treatment plants. When the grapes are being processed, the effluent load rises steeply – by a factor of 17 in the Palatinate town of Edenkoben. High-load anaerobic digestion provides a flexible solution that cuts power consumption by 20 percent, generates over half of the required electricity on site and greatly reduces sewage sludge volumes.

Fuel additives such as isooctane have so far been produced from mineral oil. Commissioned by the French-German company Global Bioenergies, the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP in Leuna will soon be producing biobased additives for gasoline. The source is bio-isobutene, which is obtained biotechnically from sugar.

Sun rays damage unprotected skin. Substances in medications or lotions applied to the skin can be chemically modified by sun rays to have a toxic effect on the body. An accredited in-vitro test method at Fraunhofer IGB in Stuttgart measures the phototoxic potential of substances or cosmetics. The skin model was advanced with the addition of pigmentation that enables the testing of self-tanning agents.

At present, bacteria, fungi or viruses can generally only be detected with certainty by way of elaborate laboratory tests or animal experiments. The food and pharmaceutical industries would like to have faster tests to check their products. Fraunhofer researchers are therefore developing a stick that works like a pregnancy test and quickly delivers a result. In the future, it is also to be used for detecting allergens and disease pathogens in the blood.

In June 2016, Katja Schenke-Layland was awarded the Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) Harold F. Cleaver International Research Scholar Award. The award enables the German scientist and Director of Fraunhofer IGB to strategically strengthen the collaboration with the Eye Institute of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC) in the field of stem cell-based tissue engineering applications in the eye.