Producing ‘green’ energy — literally — from living plant ‘bio-solar cells’

Scientists have turned to photosynthesis to generate current

15-Dec-2022 - Though plants can serve as a source of food, oxygen and décor, they’re not often considered to be a good source of electricity. But by collecting electrons naturally transported within plant cells, scientists can generate electricity as part of a “green,” biological solar cell. Now, researchers ...

Covestro turns to biotechnology for sustainable plastics

Progress in extracting chemicals from plants

05-Dec-2022 - Covestro is expanding its competencies in industrial biotechnology. The plastics manufacturer intends to make increasing use of microorganisms and enzymes to make its products and processes even more sustainable. In particular, new recycling processes based on biotechnology are also to be ...

Engineering Duckweed to Produce Oil for Biofuels, Bioproducts

Scientists drive oil accumulation in rapidly growing aquatic plants

14-Oct-2022 - Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have engineered duckweed to produce high yields of oil. The team added genes to one of nature’s fastest growing aquatic plants to “push” the synthesis of fatty ...

Plant stress transformed into rapid tests for dangerous chemicals

Inexpensive method detects synthetic cannabinoids, banned pesticides

23-Jun-2022 - Scientists have modified proteins involved in plants’ natural response to stress, making them the basis of innovative tests for multiple chemicals, including banned pesticides and deadly, synthetic cannabinoids. During drought, plants produce ABA, a hormone that helps them hold on to water. ...

Green chemistry needs more green toxicology

Sustainable bioeconomy: Development of environmentally friendly bio-shampoos and plant protection agent technologies

16-Feb-2022 - With the early assessment of sustainable, newly developed chemicals and products it is possible to assess a potential risk of toxic substances being released at a later point in product cascades. This has been revealed in a proof-of-concept study jointly coordinated by Goethe University Frankfurt ...

BASF Venture Capital and Orbia Ventures Invest in Israeli Biotech Startup

New herbicides inhibit the growth of herbicide-resistant weeds and invasive plants

14-Feb-2022 - BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC) and Orbia Ventures today announce their Series-B investment in the Israeli biotech startup FortePhest. Founded in 2017, FortePhest is developing a new technology to combat herbicide-resistant weeds and invasive plants. Inspired and informed by natural plant ...

Eco-friendly plastic from cellulose and water

Researchers create new kind of environmentally friendly bioplastic with hydroplastic polymers

26-Jul-2021 - Plastics offer many benefits to society and are widely used in our daily life: they are lightweight, cheap and adaptable. However, the production, processing and disposal of plastics are simply not sustainable, and pose a major global threat to the environment and human health. Eco-friendly ...

Engineered microbe may be key to producing plastic from plants

08-Mar-2019 - With a few genetic tweaks, a type of soil bacteria with an appetite for hydrocarbons shows promise as a biological factory for converting a renewable -- but frustratingly untapped -- bounty into a replacement for ubiquitous plastics. Researchers, like those at the University of ...

New molecular blueprint advances our understanding of photosynthesis

Shedding light on the process by which plants convert carbon dioxide into sugar

19-Feb-2019 - Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have used one of the most advanced microscopes in the world to reveal the structure of a large protein complex crucial to photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight into cellular ...

Natural substance as alternative to controversial glyphosate?

Novel unusual sugar from cyanobacteria acts as natural herbicide

05-Feb-2019 - Researchers at the University of Tübingen have discovered a natural substance that could compete with the controversial herbicide glyphosate: The newly discovered sugar molecule synthesized from cyanobacteria inhibits the growth of various microorganisms and plants but is harmless to humans and ...