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Science2Go | Dr. Michaela Eder | Plants - Living Organisms and Materials

Quelle: ©Standortmanagement Golm GmbH

The sizes of plants range from unicellular organisms to the heaviest organisms on earth – the aspen clone “Pando”. The properties of plant tissues are as diverse as the sizes, ranging from soft fruits to hard and strong spines or wood. Even though living plants are organisms at least parts of them can be seen as a material – not just after harvest. To explain this viewpoint one needs to look at the smallest living building block, the cell. A characteristic of plant cells is the cell wall outside of the plasma membrane. Many cells die shortly after synthesis, to take over their functions for the living plant, eg water transport, barrier against external challenges or mechanical support and protection. Tissues composed of such non-living cells (eg, wood, bark, dry fruits, mature seed pods and seed coats) can therefore be seen as materials. To ensure functionality plants are able to synthesize materials with a wide range of material properties, by structure and slight changes in biochemical composition. While beneficial for the plant, humans struggle to make use of the natural variability. As a consequence, current use of the large biomass of plants as a material is mainly limited to wood of straight grown plant stems, bamboo and some fibre-crops which are comparatively well studied materials. Our research focuses on an understanding of the properties and functions of dead material for the plant: to contribute to a better understanding of plants, for bioinspired materials research and to create basic knowledge for a more targeted and sustainable use of this resource.

About Science2Go:

Science2Go is an informal lecture series presenting scientific research currently being conducted at the Potsdam Science Park. These lectures are intended for researchers and staff or local individuals interested in learning about what is going on at the Park. Join us and get insight into various research topics and neighbouring institutes.

Gehalten von

Dr. Michaela Eder

Anmeldung

Ja

Veranstaltungsart

Vortrag/Vortragsveranstaltung

Sachgebiet

Wissens- und Technologietransfer

Universitäts-/ Fachbereich

Kooperierende außeruniversitäre Einrichtungen

Termin

Beginn
13.07.2021, 12:00 Uhr
Ende
13.07.2021, 13:00 Uhr

Veranstalter

Standortmanagement Golm GmbH / Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces

Ort

Online-Veranstaltung


Lageplan

Kontakt

Jana Dotzek
Am Mühlenberg 11
14476 Potsdam

Telefon: 0331 237351102