Digitalization is ushering in far-reaching change in all areas of our lives, not least in the agricultural sector. Researchers from the University of Bonn have now presented a study on how international agricultural corporations and Big Tech firms are using digital platforms to transform the agriculture industry. They make it clear that, although the technologies harbor significant potential, they also risk amplifying existing power structures and creating new dependencies.

A balanced diet is important for reducing hunger and malnutrition. Researchers thus advocate that small farmers in low- and middle-income countries should try to produce as many different foods as possible for their own consumption. However, a new study is now questioning this recommendation to some extent. It suggests that good access to regional markets is more important than farmers growing a large diversity of crops on their own smallholding. Better-functioning markets increase the variety of foods available locally, which benefits the population as a whole. The results are being published in the journal “Nature Food.”

The identification of genes involved in diseases is one of the major challenges of biomedical research. Researchers at the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) have developed a method that makes their identification much easier and faster: they light up genome sequences in the cell nucleus. In contrast to complex screenings using established methods, the NIS-Seq method can be used to investigate the genetic determinants of almost any biological process in human cells. The study has now been published in Nature Biotechnology.

In a time of multiple crises, the enormous loss of biodiversity is one of our greatest challenges, the consequences of which are already affecting countless people around the world. It is evident by now: Something has to change - but what and how? Dr. Stefan Partelow, head of the “Transformation and Governance” research area at the Center for Life Ethics at the University of Bonn, is working on precisely this question. As one of many scientists, he contributed to the Transformative Change Assessment of the World Biodiversity Council IPBES, which has now been published: It aims to understand and identify factors in human society that can be used to bring about transformative change for the conservation, restoration and wise use of biodiversity while considering social and economic objectives in the context of sustainable development.

The members of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) have elected Professor Anna-Katharina Hornidge as its co-chair. The Professor for Global Sustainable Development at the University of Bonn and Director of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) will now lead the council on an equal footing with her fellow co-chair Professor Jörg E. Drewes from the Technical University of Munich, who has likewise been newly elected.

The University of Bonn has appointed yet another outstanding Schlegel Professor financed from Excellence funding. Professor Maja Köhn is set to inject fresh momentum into the Institute for Cell Biology as its Managing Director. Her main area of work is studying phosphatases.

Some time ago, archaeological excavations in the Praunheim district of Frankfurt am Main uncovered a burial ground from the 3rd century. Inside one of its graves, the archaeologists came upon a complete skeleton accompanied by grave goods, in this case an earthenware jug and an incense burner in the shape of a chalice. However, it was not until they were cleaning the bones that they discovered something else—an amulet capsule, which has now turned out to be a truly sensational find. Professor Markus Scholz, an archaeologist and expert in Latin inscriptions based at Goethe University Frankfurt, has managed to decipher the inscription on the capsule with the help of church historian Professor Wolfram Kinzig from the University of Bonn and a number of other researchers. 

The audience in the packed hall of the DIGITALHUB experienced eight high-caliber pitches on innovative ideas at the final of the University of Bonn's 2024 ideas competition. The pitch event, now in its fourth year, once again demonstrated the innovative potential of students and researchers at the university. In the end, three ideas convinced the expert jury: “Hoya Institut NRW” and “Cytosphere X” each won €1,000 from the Bonn University Foundation and Comma Soft AG. The idea “Parnox – Pioneering AI-based medical coding” received the Digital Startup Prize from DIGITALHUB.