blog – acib

Back to the roots – Archaea save the world

Living fossils allow us a glimpse into a time long past, for they have changed little or not at all over millions of years. The platypus or the horseshoe crabs are well-known representatives from the world of animals; among plants, horsetail, ginkgo or the box tree are considered such living fossils. But the world of microorganisms can also come up with living fossils: the so-called archaea are a special group of microorganisms, which are characterised by a special composition of the cytoplasmic membrane and sometimes also through specific cell envelope that is not found in bacteria or eukaryotic organisms…

May 26, 2023

How biotech tools help to fight climate change

The recent climate change is caused by greenhouse gases absorbing some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight, thus trapping this heat in Earth’s lower atmosphere, causing global warming. There are many approaches to reduce this phenomenon. acib as the leading institute of industrial biotechnology developed several biotech tools for that very purpose.

May 26, 2023

CELL | PARCEL

Sustainable spatial solutions today, especially in urban planning and urban research, must consider and incorporate the background of challenges such as climate, energy, technology, and society. A new interdisciplinary project named CELL | PARCEL combines architecture and biotechnology with the question of how future spaces can be made more resilient to these challenges – and attractive and livable at the same time.

April 20, 2023

Food from the lab – how healthy can it be?

A balanced diet is important, we learn that from an early age. The more natural the ingredients and the shorter the supply chains, the better for our health and for the environment. Nevertheless, a trend is currently developing in biotechnology towards food ingredients fresh from the laboratory. Probiotics from intestinal bacteria, flavourings from yeast fungi or artificial meat from animal cell cultures – all these examples are the subject of daily research in industrial biotechnology.

April 3, 2023

Repairing spinal cord injuries with nanotechnology

A Europe-wide project named “Piezo4Spine” sets the high goal of developing a novel therapy against spinal cord injuries (SCI). Based on the latest findings in materials science, regenerative medicine and nanotechnology, research is being conducted on a 3D-theramesh equipped with bioactive nanocarriers that delivers therapeutic agents to the site of the lesion through electrical stimulation. These bioactive ingredients activate the neuronal regeneration processes after an SCI has occurred. If successful, this technology could be useful in the future for pathologies such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, among others.

March 10, 2023

Enabling Alkaloid production in engineered poppy cells

Opiate alkaloids such as morphine and codeine are important pharmaceutical ingredients used to treat severe pain. Morphine is even classified as an essential medicine by the World Health Organization (WHO). Opiate-based medications are crucial to provide normal life for patients who need long-term pain management due to living with terminal cancer, sickle cell disease, COPD- related dyspnea, (etc.). Unfortunately, morphine is practically unavailable in low- and middle-income countries leaving patients in suffering.

February 27, 2023

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!

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.

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.

December 19, 2022

Drone shot of a landfill with a lot of plastic waste in Indonesia.

MOOC “The new plastics economy: circular business models and sustainability”

The MOOC “The new plastics economy: circular business models and sustainability”, realized within the Horizon 2020 BIO-PLASTICS EUROPE project

November 10, 2022

© 2023 by acibacib is an industrially oriented private limited company with a non-profit orientation. It is publicly owned by University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Graz University of Technology, University of Graz, University of Innsbruck and Joanneum Research.

© 2023 by acib
acib is an industrially oriented private limited company with a non-profit orientation. It is publicly owned by University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Graz University of Technology, University of Graz, University of Innsbruck and Joanneum Research.