Biotechnology- Research in Germany

 Biotechnology

© DAAD/Volker Lannert

Biotechnology has become the basis and driving factor behind many applications in medicine, the food and feed industry and chemical industry.

The German biotechnology sector is growing. Altogether, around 35,000 people have jobs in the field of biotechnology. Biotechnology has become the basis and driving factor behind many applications in medicine, the food and feed industry and chemical industry. It is, for example, used in the production of medical drugs, for new diagnosis and therapy concepts, the production of fine chemicals, wastewater treatment processes or energy production from biomass. Different fields of application have different colours.

White or industrial biotechnology deals with the production of chemical base materials and end products. Biotechnology processes in medical applications, such as the development of new medical drugs, are called red biotechnology. Green or plant biotechnology is used to produce plants that are better nutrient producers or renewable resources.

The Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) established two funding programmes aimed to translate biotechnological findings into products that address global challenges. The Health Research Programme, which is funded with €5.5bn until 2014, refocuses research on the fight against the most common diseases. Climate change, sustainability of food, bioenergy and industry production is in the focus of the Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030, which is being funded with €2.4bn until 2017. Under the roof of these programmes all players in the innovation value chain - from basic and applied research and clinics to start ups and companies – are targeted. Furthermore, the BMBF guarantees institutional funding for the four research societies Max-Planck-Society, Leibniz Association, Helmholtz Association and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, in which a wide range of researchers are working in biotechnology research.

Source: Research-in-germany