01 MICROBES II - a day made of algae

Lecturers_ Prof. Mareike Gast, Anja Lapatsch and Karl Schikora

In cooperation with_ Prof. Dr. Carola Griehl (Anhalt University of Applied Sciences) and Norman Friedrich (Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg)

Higher BA and MA students_ Melanie Glöckler, Ulrike Silz, Iiro Halén, Laura Pelizzari, Yi Gong, Ida Flik, Larissa Siemon, Marc Wejda, Dorothea Lang, Ina Turinsky, Andreas Wagner, Luis Undritz

Photos_ Ulrike Silz, Mark Wejda, Melanie Glöckler, Ina Turinski, Andreas Wagner

Algae are known as an unpleasant occurrence inside aquariums, as an annoying algae bloom at popular coastal resorts, maybe also as an integral part of nutrition in some cultures, but still they are an almost unused resource – despite their incredible variety and their ability to grow much faster than land plants without competing with other foodstuff. Some algae even bind heavy metals, others can provide important minerals or biofuels, or even produce tailor-made plastics from carbon dioxide in the air with solar energy. The second microbes project dealt with the question: how can we make use of this valuable raw material and not only substitute materials and products with algae but create new applications, qualities, characteristics and usage scenarios? In order to explore this question and provide innovative answers, exploratory experiments were performed alongside intensive discussions with various experts.

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