Major success for Synthetic Biotechnology

The innovative agricultural technology developed at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) doesn’t work like a conventional pesticide. Instead of killing pests, it repels them—much like a mosquito spray. And agricultural chemical companies in Germany, Holland, Austria and Switzerland have already signalled their interest. Currently, TUM is working on the next step with the Institute of Sugar Beet Research at the University of Göttingen, the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture and the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture: testing the organic pest spray to assess its effectiveness on sugar beet aphids.