Duesseldorf, 13 October 2008 – Dr. Thorsten Eggert, evocatal GmbH Duesseldorf, and Dr. Thomas Drepper, Heinrich-Heine-University, Duessel-dorf, have been nominated for the Evonik European Science-to-Business Award 2008 for developing the anaerobically fluorescent protein “evoglow®“.

Fluorescent proteins are of enormous importance in biotechnological research - a fact which has inevitably become apparent when this year´s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the discoverers of GFP. The researchers, Dr. Thorsten Eggert and Dr. Thomas Drepper, are all the more pleased to find that their work is in line with the current trend. While working together at the Institute of Molecular Enzyme Technology at the Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, they have developed such a fluorescent protein. However, their protein featured an essential improvement - compared to other fluorescent proteins available at the time, the “evoglow®“-proteins do not require any oxygen. The application range of “evoglow®“is therefore very versatile and opens up a number of new applications in the field of industrial or white biotechnology as well as biomedicine.
This also convinced the jury of this year's Evonik European Science-to-Business Award to nominate the protein and its two discoverers for the coveted prize. One criteria for the nomination was the successful marketing of the protein under the trade name “evoglow®“ through the evocatal GmbH, a spin-off company of the Heinrich-Heine-University cofounded by Dr. Thorsten Eggert . “The nomination for the Evonik award clearly confirms the product orientation at evocatal“, said Dr. Michael Puls, Head of Business Development at evocatal. “Fluorescent proteins are well-known to researchers but the fact that now oxygen independent types are available is an absolute novelty. The potential of our evoglow® proteins is enormous. We hope that through the nomination many more scientists and research developers will learn about the new possibilities these products can provide”. Dr. Christian Leggewie, Head of Research at evocatal, is also enthusiastic about this novel protein. “There is a whole set of promising application possibilities. The research on biofilm formation is only one of many examples“, explained Dr. Leggewie. “Biofilms are extremely resistant and partly anaerobic microbial communities that assemble, for instance, in industrial pipe systems or even in medical instruments. New possibilities may also arise for the investigation of anaerobic pathogens“. For researchers working on such systems evoglow® proteins are available as plasmid kits from evocatal GmbH.
 
The Science-to-Business Award is an initiative of Evonik Industries. Dr. Arend Oetker, President of the Donor’s Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany, is patron of the award. With this award, Evonik is encouraging young researchers to dare to take that step from the laboratory into business. The theme of the 2008 award is “White Biotechnology” (industrial biotechnology).

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