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Success story at the end of the year: After the end of LOEWE research funding for TBG, Biodiversity Genomics 2025 will be continued by Senckenberg

After seven years, the Hessian LOEWE Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG) ends with impressive successes. The center opened up genomic diversity for basic research and applications such as species conservation and natural product discovery. From 2025, research will be secured by the Senckenberg “Anthropocene Biodiversity Loss” program (€1.3 million per year), which finances professorships and staff for laboratories and bioinformatics. In addition, third-party funds and planned projects such as a DFG Research Training Group ensure sustainable continuation.
Six Hessian institutions, the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, Goethe University Frankfurt, Justus Liebig University Giessen, the Fraunhofer Institutes for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (F-ITMP) and for Molecular Ecology with the Bioresources Branch (F-IME-BR) as well as the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, worked together in the LOEWE Center to research genomic diversity. Science Minister Timon Gremmels praised the LOEWE funding, which has led to the creation of an internationally recognized center. With 16 professorships and modern infrastructure, TBG has established itself as an important player in biodiversity genomics.
Successes such as new bioinformatics methods, contributions to species conservation and drug research as well as projects such as Bat1K and SIGI underline the importance of the center. Scientific highlights include findings on the threat posed to polar bears by climate change, the evolution of hummingbirds and novel natural substances such as an antibiotic derived from the book scorpion. The results led to 576 publications, including many in Science and Nature, as well as 62 qualification papers.
The center also set the tone in science communication: Exhibitions, media contributions and international events such as the “Senckenberg Biodiversity Genomics Symposium” reached a wide audience.
According to Prof. Dr. Klement Tockner, Director General of the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, genomics provides a central basis for innovations in research and concrete solutions for the protection of biodiversity - an indispensable resource in times of global biodiversity crises.