Biomolecular recycling with Dr. Nora Schönberger

Another month, another Intelligent Infusion. For the month of June we had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Nora Schönberger of the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology to our masterclass series. Schönberger is a postdoctoral researcher in the BioKollekt team of Dr. Franziska Lederer, which is part of the HZDR biotechnology department.

Her research focuses on the development of peptide-based biomolecules that can selectively recognize and separate hypocritical materials. Currently, she is interested in the selective recognition of plastic surfaces by different peptides for the recognition of nano/microplastics as well as the bio-functionalization of plastics.

In our ever-accelerating society, the demand for raw materials is also ever growing. This is particularly true of the high-tech industries with their increasingly complex products. Due to the still low recycling rates for most metals, the extraction of resources from nature is still our primary source for these materials. The problem of a lack of effective recycling forms for most metals was thus the focus of Schönberger's presentation. In her talk, she elaborated on the potential implementations of phage surface display for the development of tailored peptides for the recovery of galium. In the course of her talk, she thereby explained the work with bacteriophage libraries, her utilization of biopanning and biosorption, and the bioinformatic identification of suitable peptides for effective binding of gallium from industrial wastewater. The talk's conclusion made it clear that peptide-based biocomposites, while still being very expensive, will very likely be used to innovate our recycling and separation processes in the future.

Are you also interested in Dr. Schönberger's findings and what discussions have unfolded following this masterclass? Then just click on the button "Livestream" for the possibility to watch everything again at any time.