33. BioSC Lecture / JPPS Seminar | Prof. Dr. Stefan Schillberg, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular and Applied Ecology IME, Aachen

Contained agriculture, enhanced photosynthesis and cell-free biosynthesis - new tools for the bioeconomy

The 33^rd BioSC Lecture was a joined lecture from BioSC and JPPC. Prof. Dr. Stefan Schillberg, head of Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular and Applied Ecology IME, Aachen gave a talk at Forschungszentrum Jülich on January 13^th, 2025. He talked about OrbiPlant® as a new vertical farming system to produce high quality food and feed crops. It is cost-effective and requires minimal space and resources. The conveyor-belt based system is currently used at SymBiotic Food.

Furthermore, Prof. Dr. Schillberg gave an overview of their strategies to increase the activity of Rubisco resulting in a higher photosynthetic performance of crops. When the CO2 concentration is increased or the O2 concentration is decreased in the vicinity of Rubisco, tuber number and biomass in potato improved.

Lastly, he described the cell-free expression system which can be used to produce proteins and secondary metabolites within hours or days. The tobacco BY-2 cell suspension can also be used as a quick and reproducible screening system.