Sustainability

Sustainability at the Department of Molecular Bioligy and Genetics

The Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics aims at improving sustainable development, especially within plant research - but also other areas - where the researchers at the department aims at

developing resistant crops that will improve productivity, reduce the need for pesticides and remedy the negative environmental impact that comes with our food production
developing new plant varieties adapted to future climate change
transfering nitrogen fixation to cereal crops to limit the need for polluting chemical fertilizers
finding a solution on how to break down plastic waste

In addition, the department has initiatives to get a better environment in the form of recycling used laboratory equipment and plastic goods, savings on electricity, CO2-friendly travel, etc.

International, interdisciplinary research network

The network aims at providing knowledge and tools for development of new resilient crops and associated microbial interventions that will improve productivity, reducing the need for fertilizers and pesticides, and alleviating negative environmental impact accompanying our food production..

Attempt find a solution to break down plastic waste

The world's oceans are being filled with plastic, and the global community cannot keep up with the production and degradation of the large amount of plastic that is produced each year. Researchers try to find a solution to this.

Bacteria adapt to plant roots

Root commensal bacteria are adapted to their host species, providing them with competitive advantages. This discovery provides clues for how to identify and tailor bacterial inoculants for improving plant growth in a sustainable manner, which can ultimately help lead to more sustainable agriculture.

Researchers will design crop systems ready for future climate change

New tools for root analysis can transform the European agricultural landscape to provide food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Improve yield stability and protein properties of faba beans

Development of new faba bean cultivars for use as a locally grown alternative to imported soy protein.

Plants distinguish beneficial from harmful microbes

Plants recognize beneficial microbes and keep harmful ones out, which is important for healthy plants production and global food security. These findings have enabled the researchers to reprogram immune receptors into symbiotic receptors, which is the first milestone for engineering symbiotic nitrogen-fixing symbiosis into cereal crops.

Enough nitrogen for organic farming

One of the major challenges in organic farming is maintaining a positive balance in the nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen is removed from the soil whenever crops are harvested. It can therefore be difficult to maintain a sufficiently high level of accessible nitrogen in the soil without using artificial fertilisers. A new research project intends to change this with a grant of DKK 17 mio. from the Innovation Fund Denmark to Stig Uggerhøj Andersen.

Legumes control infection of nodules by both symbiotic and endophytic bacteria

Legume plants selectively regulate access and accommodation of both symbiotic and endophytic bacteria inside root nodule. This provides a solid basis and platform for identification and selection of beneficial endophytic bacteria and highly efficient nitrogen-fixing rhizobia to be used as biofertilisers in sustainable agricultur

Super maize can put sustainable food on the table

A new research project financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation should pave the way towards a cheap and sustainable solution to some of Africa’s food problems. Researchers at Aarhus University are involved in the efforts to develop maize that can create its own fertiliser. On a global scale, this could lead to a reduction in the use of artificial fertilisers and thereby less environmental pollution.

Plastic waste from the laboratory is remelted into chairs

Plastic boxes that have contained pipette tips and a lot of other plastic waste were previously thrown away, but now they are melted down into chairs.

PhD students help department become even greener

A group of PhD students from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, has set out to make their department even greener. They have therefore set up a committee called greenMBG, which will come up with proposals for initiatives needed to realise their goals.

PhD students take the train to conferences to save CO2 emissions

PhD students from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, who have participated in international conferences in Germany and Greece, have chosen to take the train for environmental reasons, even though it resulted in a significantly longer travel time.

Grants to employees for research in sustainability

This list shows recent years' grants to researchers at the department aiming at sustainability to find a substitute for artificial fertilizers, find a way to break down plastic and develop new plants that can cope with a changing climate.

News about sustainability at MBG

01 November 2021 - Sustainability

An international team led by researchers from Aarhus University have discovered how plant receptors recognize specific carbohydrate signaling…

07 October 2021 - Sustainability

Legumes can make agriculture greener, both by carbon fixing, but more specifically because they do not need artificial fertilizers supplying nitrogen,…

Revised 24.11.2022

Lisbeth Heilesen

Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics