Bacterial secondary metabolites are natural products with various bioactivities. The group of Dr. Anita Loeschcke develops tools which allow the heterologic expression of gene clusters and activation of synthesis pathways. Her research focuses on the biosynthesis of various biological secondary metabolites in  Pseudomonas putida and on the evaluation of their antibiotic activity.

On 1st September 2017, a BioSC Spotlight on utilisation of the streaky Silphie takes place in the Forum of Campus Klein-Altendorf of the University of Bonn. BioSC scientists and external experts will present their latest results and discuss how the low-input plant Silphie can be improved for manufacturing of high-quality products. The event will be held in German.

On 30th June 2017, „BioSC in Dialogue“ offered a lecture in Aachen together with the citizen`s forum RWTHextern. Prof. Dr. Georg Noga, professor for horticulture at the University of Bonn, presented the concept of Vertical Farming, an innovative approach for food production in metropolitan areas. The lecture met an interested audience and ended with a lively discussion.

The BioSC welcomes a new Core Group. PD Dr. Wolfgang Britz is head of the group „Economic Modeling of Agricultural Systems“ of the Institute for Food and Resource Economics at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. His research focuses on the impacts of agricultural, environmental and trade policies on the agricultural and food sector, the environment and rural areas based on quantitative analysis with different types of economic simulation models.

Worldwide, a tremendous amount of food is lost during harvest, transportation and storage. A reduction of these losses is of major importance for a for a sustainable food security. This challenge is being addressed within the BioSC project RIPE. Its focus lies on the plant hormone ethylene, which influences fruit ripening.

On 12th May 2017, the 17th BioSC Lecture took place at Forschungszentrum Jülich. Dr. Andreas Kleinschmit von Lengefeld, Director of Research and Innovation at the FCBA in Champs-sur-Marne, France, presented Europe`s largest institute for forestry and wood processing.

On 4th August Dr. Jakob Ley, Symrise AG, will give the 18th BioSC Lecture and on 7th September Prof. Markus Pauly, HHU Düsseldorf, will give a lecture at a joint event of „BioSC in Dialogue“ and „Forschung im Fokus“.

On 28th November the 2nd BioSC Symposium „Towards an Integrated Bioeconomy“  takes place in Cologne. We would like to point out the poster call which is open until 15th August.