This year, BioSC was part of the 22^nd Baesweiler BioTec-Meeting at the Internationales Technologie- und Service-Center Baesweiler GmbH. People from various industries and scientists connected and discussed Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing.

Tobias Erb (MPI, Marburg) talked about CO₂ fixation in synthetic cells and Lutz Schmitt (HHU) elaborated further a method for CO₂ capture with the presentation of the project ACCESS. Andreas Worberg (DTU, Novo Nordisk Foundation) gave an overview of the challenges for start-ups. Furthermore, LenioBio, SenseUP Biotechnology and BRAIN Biotech AG were invited and presented their portfolio. At the end, AgPrime GmbH gave a tour of their lab and climate chambers.

Alain Marty (Carbios) gave a talk with the title “PET recycling: an enzyme and process optimization to an industrial plant” at the Jülich Biotech Day 2024. Carbios uses enzymes to recycle PET waste. The resulting monomers can then be used directly for the production of PET products or textiles without quality loss. The technology will be used in an industrial plant in about two years. As a second example, Alain Marty talked about the biodegradation of PLA in compost and the challenges of finding a suitable enzyme for this process that can be integrated directly into the material.

In the lecture series “Meet the Circular Economy”, which took place for the third time in summer 2024, a number of companies again provided insights into the challenges of developing and implementing circular and bio-based processes. For the first time this year, the lectures were followed by an Innovation Challenge with tasks set by the speakers for the students. On October 7, five student teams competed against each other with their solutions and were evaluated by a jury. The BioSC donated the first prize.

High-quality proteins are relevant for food and animal feed, but also as enzymes for pharmaceutical applications, for example. The 10th BioSC Spotlight at RWTH Aachen University on 3 September 2024 focused on various plants as potential sources of protein. More than 50 participants discussed the challenges of breeding, cultivation, processing and social acceptance. Lupins were one of the case studies analysed in more detail.

Photo: BioSC

The start-up company re.solution from Aachen, founded in 2023, was awarded several prizes in the first half of 2024. The technology that re.solution uses for the environmentally friendly recycling of textiles was developed as part of BioSC projects and was further developed in BioökonomieREVIER innovation labs and other projects before the company was founded.

Photo: Achema

On July 7, 2024, the BioSC enjoyed a large number of visitors at the Bonn Science Festival on the Hofgartenwiese in Bonn. The BioSC CoreGroups of Prof. Hartmann and Prof. Grundler of the University of Bonn provided insights into current BioSC projects. A variety of hands-on and participatory activities for the whole family made bioeconomy and science tangible.