’Biopolymers are non-toxic for humans and animals’

Many scientists at the University of Münster are researching the use of sustainable bioresources. © sonnensprosse.de With the end of the "petroleum age" - i.e. replacing oil with sustainable bio-resources - renewable raw materials are becoming increasingly important for commerce and industry. They can help find solutions to global environmental problems which contribute to health issues, climate change and species becoming extinct. In this interview with Kathrin Nolte , Prof. Jochen Schmid from the Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology talks about the potential in "biologizing" processes and products and explains what interdisciplinary research focuses exist in this field at the University of Münster. How important are so-called biopolymers in the use of sustainable resources? Biopolymers have outstanding material properties, a wide range of biological functions, and very promising biomedical applications, so they have enormous potential for "biologizing" processes and products. These range from completely degradable synthetics and materials which represent no risk to health and can be used for example in the automotive, packaging, food and cosmetics industries, to active ingredients and agents for agricultural and medical purposes - environmentally friendly and with very few side-effects. They are highly suitable to take over from petroleum-based chemical polymers in these applications and, in the long term, perhaps even replace them completely. And biopolymers are non-toxic for humans and animals, do not accumulate in the environment - because they are easily degradable - and do not pollute the soil, groundwater, the oceans or the atmosphere. What exactly are biopolymers?