www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Prominent companies in the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and nutrition
industries have come together for the first time under the umbrella of the
?Industrieverbund Mikrobielle Genomforschung? (industry/science association
to promote microbial genome research), Dusseldorf, with the aim of advancing
microbial genome research as a technology with broad industrial application,
December 2006.

The work is being carried out in close cooperation with the Federal
Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and academic research groups. An
international body of experts has already delivered a very positive
assessment of the first projects, which have a total volume of 42 million
euros over five years and are each financed equally by the BMBF and
industry. Over the next few years the projects will seek to improve how
efficiently micro-organisms are used in technical processes and to develop
new products from micro-organisms with new properties.

This work will make a substantial contribution to the further development of
white biotechnology in Germany, a country that is assuming a pioneering role
in this technology both in academic research and in industrial application.
Industry and the BMBF will provide around 600 million euros for white
biotechnology projects over the next ten years.

The Industrieverbund Mikrobielle Genomforschung is supported by BASF, Bayer
Crop Science, BRAIN, Degussa, Henkel, Milupa, Schering, Südzucker and
Wacker, as well as other small and medium-sized companies. Dr. Karl-Heinz
Maurer, Chairman of the Industrieverbund Mikrobielle Genomforschung,
comments: ?The use of genome information to optimize micro-organisms and
their products is becoming a key factor in the global race to be first with
the best products and processes in white biotechnology.?

Thomas Rachel, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of
Education and Research, explains: ?It is essential that industry,
universities and politics stand shoulder to shoulder if they are going to
hold their own in the global competition. So I welcome the industry's
GenoMik-Plus initiative, an approach that is closely linked to the federal
government's high-tech initiatives and which is accompanied by other BMBF
programs in the fields of biotechnology, nutrition and health.?

As the world's leading specialty chemicals company, Degussa already holds a
strong position today in fermentation-based amino acids for animal nutrition
and for applications in the pharmaceutical and food industries. Speaking
about what his company is aiming to achieve through its participation in the
GenoMik-Plus initiative, Degussa's Deputy Chairman Dr. Alfred Oberholz says:
?We are seeking to utilize synergies in research to leverage additional
technology potentials in production processes and to step up the pace from
development through to market readiness. What is more, the proportion of our
products that are based on renewable raw materials is set to significantly
increase over the next few years.?

Henkel has a great deal of experience in a partnership-based strategy of
developing enzymes for detergents and cleaning agents. ?Enzymes in
detergents and cleaning agents are a well-known example of the successful
use of white biotechnology. Consumers benefit from low washing temperatures
and better cleansing power, while nature gains through a reduction in the
quantity of chemicals used and lower energy consumption?, is how Dr.
Wolfgang Gawrisch, Chief Technology Officer Research/Technology of Henkel
KGaA, summarizes the situation.

Speaking for BRAIN AG, a technology company specializing in white
biotechnology, Chief Executive Officer Dr. Holger Zinke notes: ?The
Industrieverbund Mikrobielle Genomforschung is an outstanding platform for
the collaboration of industry, technology companies and academic partners.
The new national initiative pools these forces together for the first time,
and thereby makes an important contribution to strengthening Germany's
position on the research landscape.?

Genome research into micro-organisms - key technology for the 21st century

Five years ago sequencing and evaluating a microbial genome cost a million
euros and needed one year to carry out. Today it can be done for a tenth of
the outlay and in just three months. Prof. Dr. Alfred Pühler, holder of the
Chair of Genetics at Bielefeld University and coordinator of the Bielefeld
GenoMik-Plus network observes: ?Genome-based analysis and optimization of
organisms, production processes and applications is set to become one of the
prerequisites for innovative and competitive products and processes in the
field of chemistry, pharmaceuticals, medicine and nutrition. The
GenoMik-Plus networks have advanced the development of the technology and
methods required to the extent that industry can now put them into practical
application.?

The use of micro-organisms in industrial biotechnology is regarded as a key
technology of the 21st century. What is increasingly becoming the ?glass
cell? is making it possible to quantify and use the natural metabolic
activity of micro-organisms more efficiently than ever before. As a result,
advances in sequencing methods and functional genome analysis can enable the
genetic configuration of organisms to be revealed and compared within a very
short time. This will enable the very complex ways in which micro-organisms
interact with their environment to become increasingly predictable. And as a
result it will be possible to develop products and intermediates based on
renewable materials as well as, for example, new substances that have an
antibiotic effect or that can be proven to have a positive effect on
intestinal flora.

?White biotechnology? - also known as industrial biotechnology - is the term
used to describe sustained, industrial manufacturing processes that are
primarily based on natural, biological resources. It covers fermentative and
enzymatic processes that offer both economically and ecologically promising
alternatives to chemical-physical processes.

Industrieverbund Mikrobielle Genomforschung (Dusseldorf): An association to
promote science and research, in particular functional genome research into
micro-organisms. The association brings together the experience gained by
science and business, supports research in the area of genome research and
supports the exchange of expertise and cooperation between business and
science. Members of the Industrieverbund come from companies in the
biotechnology, chemicals, consumer goods, foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals
industries. BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Biopract, BRAIN, Degussa, Direvo,
Henkel, Milupa, Schering, Südzucker and Wacker are all involved in the
Industrieverbund.

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