Two new CD labs for TU Graz

By Pelzl Two new CD labs of TU Graz are working on producing proteins and high-quality plastics efficiently and cost-effectively. With the opening of two new labs on 24 of September, TU Graz is once again acting as an interface between science and industry. The pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, Sesam-Biotech GmbH and Biogrammatics are company partners of the Laboratory for Innovative Pichia Pastoris Host and Vector Systems , which under the leadership of Anton Glieder is investigating basic biological mechanisms of the yeast species Pichia pastoris. The results should lead to higher quality enzymes and biopharmaceutical proteins being produced at a lower price. In the Laboratory for Organocatalysis in Polymerisation , laboratory head Christian Slugovc and his team are working together with the companies Allnex and Hilti to produce high-quality plastics using alcohols in a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly way. The participating companies are jointly financing the seven-year research in the Christian Doppler labs along with public funds. The research budgets amount to a total of 1.9 million euros ( lab for Innovative Pichia Pastoris Host and Vector Systems) and 1.4 million euros ( lab for Organocatalysis in Polymerisation).