Millions for EU-funded Projects at RWTH

Great New Article on WDR Website Makes Reference to RWTH's EU-funded Research Projects!

WDR recently published a very interesting short article introducing two current research projects being run at RWTH, both of which receive funding from the EU, and our very own P4SB is among them. Many thanks to WDR for referencing our project!

Curious? Go read the full article in German!

German is not your preferred language? You can find some key points from the article summarized below in English!

Two research Projects focussing on environmental and health issues at RWTH have received EU-funding amounting to an Overall total of 11 Million euros. A main goal in all these projects is to protect and preserve human health and safety, as well as to contribute to protecting the environment and our planet!

One of them is specifically concerned with developing a robot capable of renovating buildings that are contaminated with asbestos. Such a robot could, for instance, remove the carcinogenic asbestos layers on the walls and ceilings of such a building, thereby protecting construction workers from working conditions that would otherwise be hazardous to their health.

The second project is aiming to decompose plastic waste with the help of bacteria and transform it into high-grade bioplastic. As this could positively impact the way plastic is produced and handled and ultimately contribute to reducing the world-wide plastic waste problem.

[Information taken from "11 Millionen Euro für RWTH-Projekte" on the WDR Webpage, public domain image taken from TaxRebate.org.uk]

RTL WEST reports on EU Projects P4SB and Bots2ReC!

P4SB on RTL WEST Forschung für die Zukunft 2018/01/31

RTL WEST reports on P4SB and its fellow EU funded project Bots2ReC at RWTH Aachen!

Many thanks to RTL WEST for allowing us to publish their report on the P4SB project's YouTube Channel. This Report has an audio track in German, subtitles are available in both German and English.

Congratulations to the two projects' teams!

Interested in learning more? Go check out the video!

Want to know more about Bots2ReC? Visit their Webpage!

WDR reports on P4SB!

P4SB on WDR 2018/01/30

The German Broadcaster WDR has reported on P4SB!

A video clip of this news report is now available on the P4SB YouTube Channel. Many thanks to WDR for allowing us to publish their report on the project's channel. The video has an audio track in German, subtitles are available in both German and English.

Curious? Go check out the video!

 

Interesting Article about the 'Battle with Plastic Waste'

Hoffnung beim Kampf gegen Plastikmüll?

This very interesting article about the struggle against plastic waste was written by Marc Platthaus for Labor Praxis' Website, and was originally published on 16.02.18.

Platthaus' article is based upon a publication by Dominik Danso, Christel Schmeisser, Jennifer Chow, Wolfgang Zimmermann, Ren Wei, Christian Leggewie, Xiangzhen Li, Terry Hazen, and Wolfgang R. Streit, with the title: "New insights into the function and global distribution of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) degrading bacteria and enzymes in marine and terrestrial metagenomes".

Curious?

The article (in German) written by Platthaus can be found here!

The original publication (in English) can be found here!

[Image Source: Labor Praxis Website, Creative Commons License]

New Publication by Our Partners!

"Immediate response mechanisms of Gram-negative solvent-tolerant bacteria to cope with environmental stress: cis-trans isomerization of unsaturated fatty acids and outer membrane vesicle secretion"

 

This article first appeared on Springer Link on February 15th, 2018. It is an open Access publication and was written by Christian Eberlein, Thomas Baumgarten, Stephan Starke, and Hermann J. Heipieper. Congratualtions to the authors!

Go read it right now on the Open Acces Springer Link Webpage, or learn more about this article from our Foregrounded Publications Section!

[Image Source: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Cover Image on Springer Link Webpage]

P4SB to Appear at Ocean Plastics Lab!

P4SB has been invited to showcase our project in the international travelling exhibition, the Ocean Plastics Lab!

The Ocean Plastics Lab is a public exhibition about science. It showcases the contribution of science to understanding and combating the problem of plastics in our world's oceans. The Lab will travel to various locations worldwide, inviting the public to engage with different types of scientific work being done right now around the world.

The Ocean Plastics Lab has been initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research together with the European Commission and the German Marine Research Consortium.

Go find ou more about the Ocean Plastics Lab on their Webpage!

[Image Source: Ocean Plastics Lab Webpage Header]

Drug-producing bacteria possible with synthetic biology breakthrough - University of Surrey Press Release

P4SB is acknowledged in a press release by the University of Surrey. This release was written by Natasha Meredith and first published on 13 March 2018:
"Drug-producing bacteria possible with synthetic biology breakthrough - Bacteria could be programmed to efficiently produce drugs, thanks to ground breaking new research from the University of Surrey and the University of Warwick."
 
Curious? Read the full Press Release here!
 
[Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:E._coli_Bacteria_(16578744517).jpg]

A very funny video from our network partner Mycosynvac about their research!

Here's the Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY60ijZZX1o&feature=youtu.be

Video Description by Biofaction:

MC Grease da Disease, A.K.A. Mycoplasma bovis, is a pathogenic bacteria that causes diseases in cows. Unharmed by even antibiotics, he lives unhindered like a rogue in the cow's lung, until the researchers of the EC H2020 funded project MycoSynVac discover a really ingenious way to fight him off. The scientists take a close relative of MC Grease, called Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and make him "an offer he can't refuse". Not unlike in a witness protection program, the scientists provide M. pneumoniae with a totally new identity by reprogramming his genome. By doing that, they’re able to create a synthetic vaccine that trains the cow's own immune defense system - which means that it becomes strong and smart enough to find and kick out M. bovis.

Read more about synthetic vaccines: http://blogs.nature.com/tradesecrets/...

MycoSynVac is a European H2020 funded science project: http://www.mycosynvac.eu

Produced by: http://www.biofaction.com

P4SB apppears in a Chemistry World article!

Recycling is taking back plastic by Angeli Mehta

This great article was written by Angeli Mehta and originally published by Chemistry World on 15th of September 2017.

"Angeli Mehta explores the evolution of plastic recycling technology and looks to a rubbish-free future", as Chemistry World proclaims.

 

Interested? Go read it right now on the Chemistry World Webpage!

 

[Image taken from here, CC0 Creative Commons]

Hermann Heipieper to be Keynote Speaker at Joint Conference 2018!

P4SB due to be represented by UFZ's Hermann Heipieper at a joint conference of EBC-VII and ISEB in 2018

Hermann Heipieper from our project partner UFZ - Helmholtz institute is presenting P4SB as a keynote speaker during the joint conference of the 7th European Bioremediation Conference (EBC-VII) and the 11th International Society for Environmental Biotechnology conference (ISEB 2018), which will take place in Chania, Crete from June 25 to June 28, 2018.

Hope to see you there! Registration and Abstract submission now open!

[Image Source: http://www.ebc-vii.tuc.gr/en/home/]