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
