Membrane Technology: Looking Deep into Smallest Pores

Membranes of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VaCNT) can be used to clean or desalinate water at high flow rate and low pressure. Recently, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and partners carried out steroid hormone adsorption experiments to study the interplay of forces in the small pores. They found that VaCNT of specific pore geometry and pore surface structure are suited for use as highly selective membranes. The researchers report in Nature Communications. (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44883-2)

Green Genetic Engineering: Making Mendel’s Dream Come True with Molecular Scissors

Molecular biologist Professor Holger Puchta from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is granted funding within a Reinhart Koselleck Project by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for work on specific restructuring of plant genomes. Puchta, a pioneer of green genetic engineering,…

Crop Protection: Biohacking against Fungal Attacks

Harmful fungi cause enormous agricultural losses. Conventional techniques for combating them involve the use of poisonous fungicides. Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), working with partners from Germany, France, and Switzerland on the DialogProTec project, have developed environmentally safe alternatives that trick the pathogens’ chemical communication with plants. Now that the research has been completed, the new technology is ready for use.