Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME

Welcome to the Fraunhofer IME. We conduct research in the field of applied life sciences from a molecular level to entire ecosystems and are your partner for contract research in the areas of pharmacy, medicine, chemistry, agriculture, as well as environmental and consumer protection. Our research and development portfolio is focused on industry, small and medium enterprises and on the public sector.

The overarching goal of our research activities at Fraunhofer IME is the development and use of novel technologies for diagnosis and therapy of human and animal diseases as well as the protection of crop plants and food sources.

The University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME want to pave the way for new therapies against multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of a joint project is to further develop active substance candidates which specifically prevent death of neurons, which is the cause for the progressive degree of disability in multiple sclerosis. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with 1.5 million euros.

Fraunhofer IME’s project group Bioresources can successfully close the year and start into 2017 with the second funding period within the Centre Insect Biotechnology (ZIB). The ZIB is funded by the Hessian state program LOEWE and receives a total of 18.2 million euros from 2017 to 2019. Most of this is used for the Fraunhofer project group Bioresources. The project group was founded in 2009 at the Justus Liebig University, set up and expended by Gießen Entomologist and IME researcher Prof. Andreas Vilcinskas. He is also the coordinator of the ZIB.

Fraunhofer IME researchers have developed a novel methodology that allows to explore the metabolic responses in plants at a global level. It enables the evaluation and interpretation of metabolic changes in any plant-based system caused by the simultaneous application of diverse ecological factors. Furthermore, this high-throughput screening system can be used for production optimization of any metabolically engineered cell lines. The comprehensive study has been published now in „Scientific Reports“, an online journal of the Nature Publishing Group.

It is the insects and their gigantic variety of active substances, which give a new research building to the city of Gießen. Here, it is planned to set up a new Fraunhofer Institute for Bioresources, with the aim of obtaining new active substances for medicine, plant protection and industry from insects, bacteria and fungi. Now, the groundbreaking ceremony took place in the presence of Hessian Minister President Volker Bouffier. The approximately 30 million euro-expensive building is financed by the state of Hesse and by the German federal government, each bearing half of the costs.

In a microgravity environment, objects are in free fall. This provides researchers with a clear view on biological and physical processes, since it is free of complicating gravity-induced phenomena like convection, shear forces, or hydrostatic pressure. Microgravity can be achieved e.g. by parabolic flights. Now, Fraunhofer IME has studied the effect of microgravity on the kinetic properties of enzymatic reactions in an Airbus A310 Zero-G flight. The experiment was conducted in automation mode via web application.The results might uncover new enzymatic properties that could expand industrial applications.

In a press conference in Berlin, Johanna Wanka, Federal Minister for Education and Research, and Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG), informed about the progress of the conversion of the German economy by digitization after one year of running the project "Industrial Data Space". Also, the FhG has already developed a white paper on a "Medical Data Space", with substantial contribution by Rainer Fischer and Matthias Jarke (Directors of Fraunhofer IME and FIT). The networking of medical data offers great potential for both research and patient-oriented health care.