Biodiversity research

Totengräber mit Agarplatten- Darmausstrichen (Copyright Fraunhofer Piotr Braczerowski)

Research motivation

Evolution has produced an unprecedented diversity of different organisms, which, in the constant struggle for survival, have developed sophisticated methods to prevail over their competitors and conquer their ecological niche. The department "Biodiversity Research" has the mission to decode this diversity of species together with their survival tactics developed by evolution over millions of years and to translate them into technical solutions for social problems.

Integrated Approach

In our work we follow the principle of learning from nature. For many problems we have to face as a modern society, a comparable counterpart exists in nature. Often a highly efficient solution has already been found for such a problem through evolution. Likewise, organisms with very special abilities and characteristics can be found in nature, which could be used for various problems. Within the department "Biodiversity Research" different technologies are used to understand this great evolutionary tool box and to transfer it into innovative applications.

Offering solutions

Animal and species conservation

Development of biodiversity monitoring technologies
Development of ex-situ captive breeding technologies of endangered species
Development of alternatives to mammalian models in medicine
Microscopic studies and imaging

Genome analyses and bioinformatics

Analysis and interpretation of transcriptome and genome data
Handling of HCS data sets
Design of specific bioinformatics pipelines

Toxinology

Clarification, bioactivity screening and isolation of animal toxins (venomics)
Recombinant production of bioactive proteins and peptides (focus on proteases and antimicrobial peptides)
Engineering of natural proteins and peptides