Environment

Woman with cosmetic face mask - Source: Unsplash

Microalgae polymers instead of synthetic ones – a greener future for skin care

Petrochemical synthetic-based polymers are still everywhere in our daily lives, despite strict regulations and general awareness of their long-term risks to the environment and human health. This is especially true of the numerous cosmetics and personal care products that we apply to our skin every day, and which can cause skin problems, allergies, hormonal changes, and even lead to cancer with prolonged use!

Didi January 30, 2023

CO2: Feedstock of the future bioprocesses

Carbon serves as the building block of life, as well as the goods and products we use every day. We consume fossil fuels and use carbon to make plastic and a variety of other products. Life as we know it today would not be possible without it. Therefore, carbon balance is crucial to have a sustainable world and future. In this context, CO2 balance is of particular interest because the rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations due to human activities is the main trigger for global warming, which in turn leads to a climate crisis that affects the global health, economy, and future of our planet.

Didi January 13, 2023

Biotechnological yeast instead of crude oil – the way to renewable plastics

Viennese researchers from the Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib) and BOKU Vienna found a way to use the harmful greenhouse gas CO2 as a raw material for the production of industrial products such as bioplastics, absorbents or important chemicals with the help of an optimized yeast, thus binding it into durable materials. The technology, which is still on a laboratory scale, is not only climate-neutral, but could also make a contribution to the fight against climate change in the future.

Didi December 19, 2022

“Smart-factories” for continuous downstream processing of antibodies

Antibodies are an important part of our immune system and work by recognizing potential hazards entering the body, such as bacteria and viruses, and activating an immune response if necessary. Antibodies that are produced in the laboratory, so called monoclonal antibodies, are widely used in modern medicine for diagnostics as well as for treating infections and some types of cancer, e.g. breast cancer.

Didi September 12, 2022

Vom heimischen Schrebergarten zum europäischen Forschungsinnovationsfeld

Im acib-Interview gibt Marko Mihovilovic, Dekan an der Fakultät für Technische Chemie an der Technischen Universität Wien, Einblick in die Zukunft der Life Sciences Fortbildungen und zeichnet den Weg nach, wie aus einer Idee mithilfe tragfähiger Synergien zwischen Forschung und Industrie ein innovatives Produkt entsteht. Laut Mihovilovic müssen Universitäten auch dem Aufrag nachkommen, Problemlösekapazitäten in Bereichen wie dem Klimawandel zu entwickeln, um nicht zuletzt dem angeschlagenen Image der Chemie einen grüneren Anstrich zu verleihen.

Didi July 13, 2022

Emerging Technologies on Biocatalysis

The climate crisis is on everyone’s lips! The chemical industry plays an important role in finding more efficient measures for industrial production processes. Most recently, the Ukraine crisis has also caused that quick solutions are urgently needed for independence from fossil resources. In this context, the keyword “green chemistry” quickly comes to our mind.

Didi July 5, 2022

The environmental and economic impact of enzymatic plastic recycling

Despite being a promising technology, enzymatic plastic recycling is still in the development phase. This means that it is not yet clear whether this recycling method will have the required characteristics for effectively replace traditional mechanical methods or even complement them. In fact, in order to be successful on the market, a technology needs to be economically viable in the first place and secondly its environmental footprint needs to be significantly lower compared to the state-of-the-art. Techno-economic and life cycle assessments are the tools used both in academia and industry precisely to evaluate the performance of new technologies like the one we are developing at Enzycle.

Didi July 4, 2022

Flasche aus Bioplastik mit Bionanopolys-Logoaufdruck.

Bionanopolys goes Austria!

Anfang April lud acib zum österreichischen Stakeholderevent aus dem Open Innovation Test-Bed (OITB) Projekt Bionanopolys ein. acib ist Mitglied in diesem 27 Partner starken Projektkonsortium, das sich mit der Entwicklung von bio-basierten Nanomaterialen beschäftigt.

acibadmin April 22, 2022

People packing organic food into eco bag

Food for Climate

What does food have to do with climate change? Quite a lot, because as population density increases, so does the demand for food. At the same time, resources are being consumed, posing even greater challenges to our environment and climate. With its “Food 2030” priority, the European Union is pursuing the goal of ensuring innovative research for the future viability of our food system. Within the framework of its research program, acib GmbH already contributes to the development of suitable solutions for sustainable and healthy nutrition.

acibadmin April 14, 2022

pharmaceutical production of liquid pharmaceuticals

Continuous downstream production of polyhydroxyalkanoates, a family of biodegradable plastics

Plastic materials are products of our daily life. Their various properties make them useful in many fields, such as packaging industry. Since the emergence of the Green Chemistry and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) concepts, many scientists have decided to engage in the development of greener chemistry to produce greener plastics. Among these, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a very serious avenue of research.

acibadmin March 25, 2022

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