The DFG has granted the Caspari lab funding for the project titled 'Exploring Transit Peptides through Photosynthetic Restoration in Chlamydomonas’. The project seeks to uncover how Information is encoded within transit peptides, N-terminal extensions of proteins destined to the chloroplast. To this end, the project relies on complementing a photosynthetic mutant of the model green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii lacking the genes encoding the small subunit of Rubisco (RbcS). Using modular cloning, a large number of constructs will be generated in which the native transit peptide of RbcS is replaced by different peptide variants, allowing diverse hypothesis about the nature of important peptide elements to be probed. These constructs will then be transformed into the corresponding mutant. Any peptide that enables chloroplast import will lead to complementation of the photosynthetic defect, allowing fast scoring of phenotypes by testing for the restored abilitiy to grow photo-autotrophically.  For this project, we are now accepting applications until the 14.03.2025 to fill a doctoral researcher position. For more details about the position and how to apply, please visit:  https://www.uni-bonn.de/de/universitaet/arbeiten-an-der-uni/stellenangebote/stellenausschreibungen/phd-student-for-the-dfg-funded-project-exploring-transit-peptides-through-photosynthetic-restoration-in-chlamydo-monas 

Last December, Dr. Katharina Scherer and her team welcomed a very special group: 10th grade students interested in biotechnology, accompanied by their teachers Markus Heinen and Karl Komander, from the Siebengebirgsgymnasium in Bad Honnef. 

The start-up Sweethoven Biotech presented its fiber-based sugar alternative to renowned representatives of the food industry at the Südzucker AG pitch event and took the opportunity to exchange ideas as part of the EIT Food Entrepreneurship Program.

World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign that takes place annually to raise awareness and understanding of the issue of antibiotic resistance. This year’s theme is: Educate. Advocate. Act now. It is a strong call to action, urging everyone to come together and make a difference!

Sweethoven Biotech was awarded 3rd place in the BioRiver Boost2024! competition for its fiber-based sugar alternative.

Congratulations to Carolin Kümpel!

The “Sweethoven Biotech” project from the IFMB won first place in the start-up competition of the Bio-Security Competence Center, received €4,000 in award funding as well as coverage in the biotechnology sector and was nominated as a finalist for the BioRiver Boost! 2024.

At this year's annual conference on high-resolution microscopy, SMLMS 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal, Laura, Béla and Ulrike brought their event-based sensor with them!