Press

A new international research effort, the Sustainable Cowpea Grain Yield by Boosting Photosynthetic Efficiency (SCOPE) project, is underway to explore scientific approaches for improving cowpea yields in harsh climates. Led by partners in Africa and Europe, the project focuses on early-stage solutions for a crop central to food security in sub-Saharan Africa.

For over 20 years – ever since Prof. Dr. Bruno Moerschbacher from the University of Münster invited Fraunhofer IME to partner in his first European research project, CARAPAX – Fraunhofer IME in Aachen and later also in Gießen has been actively involved in research and development related to the biopolymers chitin and chitosan. With Prof. Moerschbacher's retirement at the end of this month, a circle is closing: his outstanding scientific expertise will strengthen the focus on biopolymers research at Fraunhofer IME's Münster location.

This year’s theme 'Shaping history, feeding the future' recognizes the potato's journey - from its domestication in the Andes, to its global dissemination following the Columbian Exchange, to the Irish Potato Famine, and finally to its current status as a staple food for millions. It also acknowledges the opportunities and challenges that exist across the potato's value chain for our nutrition today and in the future.

On May 12, the closing event of the joint project “Mittendrin” (“Right in the middle of it”) took place, in which Fraunhofer IME, together with the City of Aachen and three other partners from research and industry, is testing the integration of vertical farming in urban buildings for efficient and resource-saving food supply in cities. A practical test setup with the OrbiLoop® system developed at Fraunhofer IME in a double-skin glass facade was presented to the public for the first time during the event.

The United Nations designated 12 May the International Day of Plant Health to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect biodiversity and the environment, and boost economic development. To feed the world by 2050, we need a 50 percent increase in agricultural production. Protecting agricultural crops from pest outbreaks is paramount. As each year, we lose up to 40 percent of crops, worth 200 billion euros, to plant pests and diseases.

A recent multidisciplinary study led by Dr. Alexandra Furch (University of Jena) in collaboration with apl. Prof. Gundula Noll and Prof. Dirk Prüfer (Fraunhofer IME, Münster), along with further experts, explores how plants convert pathogen perception into electrical signals, triggering local and systemic defense responses. Surprisingly, the evidence indicates that sieve element occlusion proteins, previously thought to be mainly involved in phloem sealing, also contribute to the signal transmission process.

The Fraunhofer IME in Giessen organises networking meetings between science, politics and industry to promote the sustainable and energy-efficient use of insects for the circular bioeconomy.

On the 29th and 30th of October, the joint Fraunhofer IME PhD seminar took place at our Institute Branch for Bioresources in Giessen, where we had the pleasure of welcoming 34 PhD students from our sites in Aachen and Schmallenberg.

As venomous animals, spiders use their chemical arsenal for prey capture or defence. Small neurotoxins target the central nervous system of their victims. While the toxins are intensively investigated, scientists at the LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG) in Hesse, Germany, have turned their attention to the enzymes also contained in the complex venom cocktail. They discovered a large, previously overlooked diversity of these proteins that facilitate biochemical reactions. According to the researchers, these could be of great value for bioeconomic applications.

A collaborative study between researchers from the Fraunhofer IME and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research has shown how a single metabolite can render bacteria toxic to plants under high salt conditions. Their findings may have important implications for agriculture and plant health in changing climates.