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NRW: Biotechnology in North Rhine-Westphalia


Policy

  • 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
  • Opinion: Governmental Vision
  • Biotechnology is the engine that will make North Rhine-Westphalia Germany's most innovative state.
  • By Minister President Jürgen Rüttgers
  • Profile: 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
  • Profile: Detlev Riesner
  • From roots in academic research, Riesner has emerged as an advisor and business angel with an enormous impact on NRW's biotech scene.
  • Joachim Pietzsch
  • 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 stuff opposition.
  • By Cormac Sheridan
  • Homeward Bound
  • Armed with vast experience, Bernward Garthoff forges bonds between science and business to boost biotech in his home state.
  • Joachim Pietzsch

Industry

  • 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
  • Profile: Thomas Von Rüden
  • With single-minded determination, he applied his dual interests to optimize the business of directed evolution (Direvo).
  • By Claudia Eberhard-Metzger
  • 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
  • Profile: 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
  • Walk on the White Side
  • A mix of partners providing many inputs helps white biotech deliver multiple benefits.
  • By Ludger Wess
  • Opinion: Come Together
  • CLIB2021 aspires to become Europe's leading industrial biotechnology cluster.
  • By Manfred Kircher
  • Profile: 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

Research

  • 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
  • Profile: 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
  • Plant Science Flourishes
  • Cologne's Mac Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research generates a new understanding of how plants work.
  • By Hildegard Kaulen
  • Profile: 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
  • Profile: Erich Gulbins
  • Uncovering the surprising role of ceramide in different diseases motivates an accomplished young professor.
  • By Cormac Sheridan
  • 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 biotech hotspot.
  • By Ludger Wess