December 2009

Germany's Biotech Big Name By Richard Gallagher and Joachim Pietzsch Where was plant biotechnology invented? Where were the walls between academia and industry, until recently as typically German as bratwurst, first torn down? Where was BioGenTec, the country's first concerted regional effort of politicians, businessmen and scientists to develop biotechnology, set up? The answer to all three questions is North Rhine-Westphalia. Despite the unm

BIO.NRW Cluster Biotechnology North Rhine-Westphalia — your access to success orth Rhine-Westphalia is at the heart of Europe.150 million people — that's a third of the population of the European Union — are within a day's drive of the state capital, Düsseldorf. The state is home to one-quarter of the direct foreign investment in Germany and the number one exporter of Germany's 16 federal states. In fact, Nor

Unchaining a champion Biotechnology in North Rhine-Westphalia already has a colorful history and a number of achievements. But the success story is only just beginning. By Joachim Pietzsch The view from BioCampus on the outskirts of Cologne, Germany. On a clear day the panorama from the BioCampus on the outskirts of Cologne, Germany, is impressive. From the conference room atop its eleven-story main building, the view stretches from the Seven

From Coal to CLIB By Joachim Pietzsch Coal mining has been the linchpin of the Ruhr economy since the mid-19th century. Coal mines, together with iron works and steel mills, was the mainstay of the reconstruction of Western Germany. In 1956, more than half a million miners dug 125 million tons of coal. After this pinnacle, however, the decline began. Cheaper imported coal and oil began to replace domestic products. Between 1957 and 1967, t

Advancing Research Lonza Cell-Based Solutions Excellent facilities for Lonza in Cologne Related Articles BIO.NRW Unchaining a champion From Coal to CLIB Governmental Vision It's all about Cells Andreas Pinkwart Tap the Full Potential Bayer Detlev Riesner Cooling the German Discussion Dasgip Homeward Bound Lonza is one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries.

Governmental Vision Biotechnology is the engine that will make North Rhine-Westphalia Germany's most innovative state. Opinion By Minister President Jürgen Rüttgers As Federal Research Minister, I introduced Germany as a potential biotechnology location at the BIO fair in New York in 1998. I had every reason to be pleased with the enthusiasm of the American media. "Germany is back!" they wrote. Back home, I was awarded the title "Entrepre

It's all about cells Miltenyi Biotec products and services benefit the biomedical research community worldwide In 1989, a success story began in Bergisch Gladbach near Cologne: MACS® Technology was developed, an efficient and reliable method to tag and separate cells magnetically. Since then, the Miltenyi Biotec team has grown to more than 1,100 employees. They produce and market over 1,400 products for the biomedical research community worldwide,

Andreas Pinkwart A liberal economist with a keen interest in biotechnology, Germany's sole Minister for Innovation has deep pockets and ambitious goals for his state . By Ludger Wess An energetic forty-eight year-old man with short, hedgehog-like hair and a firm handshake, Andreas Pinkwart is a banker and economist by background but he has a soft spot for science. In fact, as a schoolboy, he finished second in the "Jugend forscht" chemistry competitio

Tap the full potential Politicians need to further strengthen the research base in North Rhine-Westphalia. Opinion By Christoph M. Schmidt Research on the economics of progress suggests that successful technology policy should simultaneously take two complementary routes. First, by shaping the general environment of education, research, and knowledge transfer to be open, competitive, and financially well endowed, sound technology policy lays the

Bayer Science for a better life Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. The products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. Bayer aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. The company's mission statement is "Bayer: Science For A Better Life". Activities are concentrated in three subgroups, HealthCare, Crop

Detev Riesner From roots in academic research, Riesner has emerged as an advisor and busines angel with an enormous impact on NRW's biotech scene. By Joachim Pietzsch Conformations of viroids is the title of the poster which still decorates Detlev Riesner's office, although it dates back to 1976 when he presented it at a conference in Hamburg. "Stanley Prusiner was interested, I have a photograph," Detlev Riesner recalls. For the two young

Cooling the German discussion A unique network that includes philosophers, lawyers and theologians as well as scientists is helping stem cell research in North Rhine-Westphalia to proceed in the face of stiff opposition. By Cormac Sheridan Embryonic stem (ES) cells need extrinsic growth signals. ES cells are shown cultured in the presence (left) and absence (right) of the cytokine LIF (leukemia inhibitory factor). LIF maintains the ES cell's key properti

DASGIP Parallel Bioreactors for Unparalleled Results 8-fold Fermentation System Being a provider of first class laboratory equipment for global player in the biopharmaceutical, chemical and food & feed industry, DASGIP AG is a very typical Life Science company in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Juelich based company develops and manufactures state-of-theart Parallel Bioreactor Systems for the cultivation of microbial, animal and human ce

Homeward bound Armed with vast experience, Bernward Garthoff forges bonds between science and business to boost biotech in his home state. By Joachim Pietzsch Bernard Barthoff Intrinsically Bernward Garthoff dislikes buzzwords. But he knows how useful they can be, particularly when it comes to facing the challenges of change. After all, he has a long and successful management career at Bayer, retiring from the Board of BayerCrop

The Courtyard Connection Built around the sides of a quad in Jülich, the four institutes of the Center for Microbial Biotechnology move forward inspired by a fruitful linkage and legacy. By Nicola Kuhrt A 30 liter bioreactor in the microbial cultivation lab of the Institute of Biotechnology. An engineer is inspecting the bioreactor operation during the cultivation experiment. © Research center Jülich Karl-Erich

Alfred Pühler Forty years (and counting) at the forefront of microbiology research have not dimmed Pühler's infectious enthusiasm or voracious work ethic. By Cormac Sheridan Alfred Pühler has been a powerhouse in German microbiological research—initially in the area of plant-microbe interactions and later in industrial microbiology—over the past four decades. But he actually started out in nuclear physics, obtain

Jülich Indisciplinary Research: the Center for Microbial Biotechnology (ZMB) at the Forschungszentrum Jülich Bioprocess development at IBT-2 At the Center for Microbial Biotechnology (ZMB), four closely collaborating institutes join their forces to advance industrial (or white) biotechnology. The four are the Institutes of Biotechnology 1 (IBT-1) and 2 (IBT-2) of the Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH and th

Plant Science flourishes Cologne's Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research generates a new understanding of how plants work. By Hildegard Kaulen Scientist collecting samples from potato plants at the Max Planck's Institute for Plant Breeding Research greenhouse. © Maret Kalda, Max Planck Institute Take any significant chunk of scientific history, and you'll find that an event from North Rhine-Westphalia is in th

Rainer Fischer In the ancient imperial city of Aachen, a global strategy for antibodies and vaccines from plants and microbes is being planned. By Hildegard Kaulen In the early Middle Ages, the German city of Aachen was the northern capital of Charlemagne's empire. Today, the city is home to western Europe's largest technical university (Technical University in Aachen), the only one in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) given elite status in Germ

Bonn to battle Neurodegeneration A new research center to combat dementia joins a network of neuroscience institutes along the Rhine axis. By Annette Tuffs The view from Venusberg hill, the site of the new German Helmholtz Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases at University Hospital. It is the disease of forgetting—and was for a long time a forgotten disease. Dementia, the seemingly inevitable loss of memory and personality asso

Erich Gulbins Uncovering the surprising role of ceramide in different diseases motivates an accomplished young professor. By Cormac Sheridan Erich Gulbins has an arresting idea. The director of the Institute of Molecular Biology, at the University of Duisburg-Essen, reckons that a generic tricyclic antidepressant, the nonselective serotonin reuptake inhibitor amitriptyline, could play a beneficial role in conditions as diverse and apparent

Devising a New Dortmund Within a decade, the city of Dortmund — best known for its beer and its "Borussia" soccer team — has been reinvented as a biotech hotspot. By Ludger Wess Zeche Zollern Tower type headgear of a Dortmund coalmine. The city of Dortmund once proudly described itself as the "triad of coal, steel, and beer." Those days are gone forever. "The last coal mine was closed in 1987, steel production ceased in 2001 af

Pride and pioneers NRW's behemoth chemical companies generate about one third of the German chemical industry's global sales. For biotechnology, this dominance can be both a blessing and a curse. By Ludger Wess The production of 200 liter batches of resin used in Qiagen's spin columns for the isolation of nucleic acids. © Juergen Bindrim For more than a century, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has been the heartland o

Solutions for megatrends Legislation should be forward-looking for all fields of biotechnology. By Wolfgang Plischke Opinion by Wolfgang Plischke North Rhine-Westphalia is already one of Germany's most important industrial biotechnology locations. The generous funding provided by the state government for biotechnological research will be a key factor in enhancing the location's attractiveness in the future. Related Articles Pride and Pio

The Biocampus Cologne Area of the future Companies need spatial perspectives to grow. Founders need a location, where the industry's knowledge is concentrated. Become a part of the industry of the future, biotechnology and life sciences, on the BioCampus Cologne, a top class location in the heart of Europe. The BioCampus Cologne is developing into a motor of innovation and one of the largest biotechnology parks in Germany. At the centre of the idea a

Thomas von Rüden With single-minded determination , he applied his dual interests to optimize the business of directed evolution (Direvo). By Claudia Eberhard- Metzger In a German secondary school in Bingen-on-Rhine, back in the 1970s, Thomas von Rüden stood in front of the blackboard explaining protein biosynthesis to the rest of the class. His teacher gave him 15 points, the best possible score, for his presentation, w

It started with a kit Spun-off from Düsseldorf University almost 25 years ago, Qiagen has become the world's leading provider of sample technologies and a top player in molecular diagnostics. By Claudia Eberhard-Metzger Device production at Qiagen: The assembly of prefabricated components into Qiagen spin columns that are used for sample preparation. The machine can produce up to five million spin columns a year. © Jens Willebrand

Two sides of a coin Local support and global outlook are an unbeatable combination. By Peer Schatz Opinion by Peer Schatz Qiagen started out in 1984 as a university spin-off. The idea was to revolutionize sample preparation and, in doing so, to transform molecular biology as a whole. Twenty-five years later we employ 3,000 at 30 locations worldwide, and in many people's eyes Qiagen is the epitome of the successful pairing of science and busi

Bluesens Gas analyser for bioprocessing BCpreFerm for measuring CO2 and O2 on flasks and fermenters. lueSens gas sensor GmbH develops and markets FDA compliant PAT (process analytical technology) conform sensors for the detection and analysis of many gases, including CO2 and O2. Founded in 2001 as a specialist for gas analysis in bioprocessing, Blue- Sens is now established as the market leader, supplying sensors worldwide. Applications

Rainer Christine Solving a biological issue with a friend while working on his thesis, Christine abandoned academic laurels and made a fortune by building a business. By Annette Tuffs A fairy tale in the world of biotechnology start-ups might read like this: Once upon a time, there was a young molecular biology PhD student in Cologne who, working with his friend, managed to find the solution to a difficult biological riddle which could help in

Dortmund bio.dortmund - leading biotech cluster in the center of Germany Within just a few years, a biotechnology cluster of worldwide renown has evolved in Dortmund. Modern R&D institutes, up-and-coming technology businesses and groundbreaking joint projects have become characteristic of the city. A major role in this trend was played by the Economic Development Agency Dortmund and the TechnologieZentrumDortmund (TZDO), one of the largest and

Walk on the white side A mix of partners providing many inputs helps white biotech deliver multiple benefits By Ludger Wess Students in lab at the Technical University of Dortmund. © TU Dortmund University The chemical industry is facing a lot of problems: raw materials are getting more expensive and scarce, energy costs are rising, and there is increasing pressure from consumers and politicians to avoid toxic intermediates and w

The University of Duisburgessen A young university delivering excellence in life science Science and research in the most concentrated university landscape in Europe The twin-campus University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), located in the centre of the Rhine-Ruhr region, offers a broad, internationally designed curriculum that encompasses the humanities and social sciences, economics, engineering, natural sciences, and medicine, including a univer

Come together CLIB2021 aspires to become Europe's leading industrial biotechnology cluster. By Manfred Kircher Opinion by Manfred Kircher Industrial biotechnology is crucial to the future economy and to the health of the planet. It utilizes renewable resources and develops novel materials and active substances for almost all markets and areas of life. It provides opportunities to innovate both process and product in many fields. For exampl

Protein Research Department at the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) Cutting-edge research on the RUB campus is uniquely structured in departments covering material-science and lifescience. In life science, in the Protein Research Department (PRD Director; Klaus Gerwert), initiated in 2009, competitively selected Principle Investigators from the biology and biotechnology, chemistry and biochemistry and the medical faculties join forces in an interdisciplina

Alfred Oberholz His combination of business acumen, passion for technology and management skills has paid dividends for a large company and laid the foundations for industrial biotechnology in the region. By Joachim Pietzsch "One reason why I'm thrilled by innovation is pure fear," Alfred Oberholz confesses. "The life cycles of chemical products are decreasing faster and faster. Unless we constantly refill our pipeline, big chunks of