News 2025
Vacancy
Our key drivers
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"Qui veut faire quelque chose trouve un moyen, qui ne veut rien faire trouve une excuse."
Albert Camus, 1913-1960 - Be challenging in mind: think differently, yet mindfully and even disruptively to invent, challenge the status quo and push the boundaries of analytical thinking.
- Be inspiring in mind: analytical science is the basis of our knowledge; create sustainable and powerful analytical solutions making a difference.
- Be curious in mind: listen and observe to challenge your fantasy that drives your imagination and creativity.
- Be progressive in mind: change your perspectives and you will find a better way to solve it.
- Be a problem solver: it boosts your motivation.
- Be beautiful in mind: leave it better than you found it!
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New humidity control is now integrated into the 2LabsToGo-Eco, standardizing the separation.
Chemikalienbewertung
Der AK Chemikalienbewertung der GDCh-Fachgruppe Umweltchemie und Ökotoxikologie tagt und planare Bioassays sind dabei! Wir freuen uns über das Interesse!
Langenauer Wasserforum
Zwar keinen Vortragslot im Programm erhascht, aber wir haben einen Beitrag in der aktuellen Wasserforum-Ausgabe, herausgegeben von Dr. Margareta Dellert-Ritter: Ringelmann, A., Morlock, G.E., Innovative toxikologische Bewertung der Effizienz von Kläranlagen - Schadstoffscreening von behandeltem Abwasser mittels planarem Bioassay, human-S9-Metabolisierung und Hochauflösungs-Massenspektrometrie, Wasserforum 11 (2025) 4-7
Science communication
Packed in one week, certainly no leisure time, as in parallel, always working on emails and digital supervision
- Invited Speaker at 14th Balaton Symposium on High-Performance Separation Methods in Siófok, Hungary
- Invited Speaker at the Analytica USA Conference in Columbus, Ohio
- Interview video on hyphenated HPTLC by Will Wetzel of LCGC International
- Poster presentations at the Analytica USA Conference: (1) Daily exposure to toxic lifestyle products; (2) Endocrine-disrupting compounds in food
- Moderation of the Live Lab at Analytica USA, 1-h session at 10:00, 12:00, and 14:00 each day
It was great to meet Chip (Robert Cody), the co-inventor of the DART ion source in 2005! We were the first to use this new ion source in combination with HPTLC in 2007. Our progress to quantitative HPTLC-DART scanning across a separated sample track is unique, and papers are coming soon.
The Analytica Live Lab featured a 1-h tour through the latest analytical device innovations!
It was a great team of 18 players to meet every second hour to have fun!
LCGC interview with Will at the very end of the day
An enjoyable time to meet very kind colleagues attending an exceptional symposium such as the Balaton Symposium on High-Performance Separation Methods in Siófok, Hungary, which means:
- ask questions to challenge speakers
- present and defend your poster
- gratefully enjoy the invited speaker dinner
- succeed in your own presentation
- win a sustainability science quiz
- challenge curious colleagues all the time
Know more about multiple chemical sensitivity
Interview with Aaron Goodman, Ph.D., Founder/Host of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, which focuses on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and wider issues related to environmental health. There are thousands of unseen and hidden MCS-concerned humans across the globe. The body's enzyme portfolio can be expressed very differently. What triggers sensitivity or those enzymes that normally work on detoxification inside you (millions of reactions every second) are too low expressed so that fragrances can make you sick?
Interns from Bamberg high school
Michael and Daniel Dlustig spent a week with us as part of a school internship, getting a taste of life in the laboratory.
Annual Science Meeting in the "Forscherscheune"
The Adalbert-Raps-Stiftung greatly organized the science meeting on running funded projects in Ködnitz on 03.07.2025. The doctorial student Bastian Loderhose defended our project "Comparative characterisation and toxicological evaluation of submerged and surface cultivated edible mushroom mycelia versus the corresponding fruiting bodies as sustainably produced foods of the future".
Six excursions to industries
Related to our three quality management modules, we visited Novonesis and Ferrero.
We obtained important impressions and are thankful.
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Support in 2LabsToGo-Eco assembly
The assembly of the 2LabsToGo-Eco is now published. The proof was made with the workshop last year (see News 2024). We are very happy that three engineers from ETHZ found the startup Chromnil and will take over the assembly as a service, if self-assembly is not possible. The purchase of about 180 different materials from many different suppliers, 3D printing of about 125 parts including part cleaning, soldering of electronic parts, and finally the assembly of the 2LabsToGo-Eco hardware, including flashing the firmware and installing the software is carried out by them as a service. They are striving for more user-friendliness and have already made improvements to the device. This is highly welcome and appreciated!
How safe are products on the market?
Many lifestyle products such as cosmetics, personal care products and perfumes contain hazardous compounds that are not covered by previous status quo testing and regulations. We were able to prove this with the strong planar bioassay methodology, with which we examined 140 personal care products and cosmetics from 20 product segments as well as over 40 perfumes. We found known and especially unkown mutagenic, cytotoxic, neuromodulating, antibacterial and hormone-influencing hazardous compounds. It revealed the effect of these lifestyle products on cells and receptors, which information was more profound and helpful than currently used mainstream methods. Wound "healing" creams, "care" creams and nipple creams used for babies as well as lipsticks with chocolate aroma used by children are a particular cause for pressing concern. Open channels to the blood circuit are obvious as entry paths, and in such young age, the metabolic defense system of the body is not yet fully developed.
Links to press coverage
PhD student from Groningen University
During three stays in 2024/2025, PhD candidate Rosario Flores-Vallejo of Groningen University worked on novel antibacterials in algal, fungal, and bacterial extracts using 2D-HPTLC-bioassay-HRMS.
Research trip into the world of medical cannabis
At Aurora’s medical cannabis production facility in Leuna, we were guided through the entire cultivation process from the mother plants to the cuttings, which were nurtured into plants with flowers used to manufacture medical cannabis. We had the opportunity to exchange ideas about the 2LabsToGo-Eco, which plays a key role in our future research collaborations with Aurora’s medical cannabis products. Many thanks to Aurora for the insights and lively discussions!
Sensory modules
During the semester break, our two sensory block modules took place for the 9th time!
After preparing more than 100 trays (twice!), the whole team formed a very effective “human conveyor belt” for a smooth collection of the trays by the students on their way to the lecture hall.
Group work as part of the guided sensory excercises in the lecture hall.
The group that made it happen!
You need the power for decision-making!
Join our digital or hybrid course on 24.-28.02.2025
The status quo of safety analysis is a highly targeted analysis of known hazardous compounds. Unfortunately, current safety analysis is always one step behind the next disaster or scandal. It is time for a change. So it was not surprinig that we found many toxic compounds in so-called safe products using this technology. The new technology is helpful for a new perspective on product safety so that safer products can be launched on the market in the future. Be part of the change towards a sustainable one-health planet!
Girl icon was created via Stable Diffusion AI on 30-11-2023
Nature with its forces (earth, wind, fire, water, and love) is infinitely stronger than us and will always be superior to whatever our achievements are. Intelligence is to treat nature with respect. We are part of nature! We eagerly develop affordable, open-source tools and highly sustainable planar bioassay screenings to explore not only the adverse impact of xenogenic compounds on nature but also the powerful networks of nature and natural systems to understand their superior intelligence.
International Anakon 2025
The Anakon 2025, organized by the groups of Detlev Belder and Thorsten Reemtsma, took place in Leipzig, Germany, 10.-13.03.202. The doctorial student Stefan Rohling presented on" high-performance thin-layer chromatography coupled with direct analysis in real time high-resolution mass spectrometry as rapid screening technique for 5α-reductase inhibitors". I presented on "all you need is 2LabsToGo-Eco! Sustainable, fast access to critical analytical-toxicological data".
National meeting on contaminants
I clearly underlined that proactive food control is the future to have at the Kontaminantenworkshop at CVUA-MEL, Münster, Germany, 11./12.02.2025: G. Morlock "Proaktive Überwachung – Lebensmittelsicherheit anders gedacht“
International meeting on packaging materials
Advances in Safety Assessment of Packaging Materials were discussed in Vienna, Austria, on 22.01.2025. We presented the 2LabsToGo screening as an ideal tool not to overlook unknown hazardous migrants.
Speakers of the meeting
Presentations of doctorial research work
Erfolgreich wurde unsere Forschung auf dem 35. Doktorandenseminar des Arbeitskreises Separation Science vom 12.-14.01.2025 in Hohenroda, Hessen vertreten. Katharina Schmidtmann präsentierte "Schneller Nachweis von mutagenen Substanzen durch den planaren Ames-Bioassay" und Anne Ringelmann "Planare Bioassays zur Bestimmung von migrierten Substanzen aus Lebensmittelkontakt-Materialien".
Sie haben es beide sehr souverän gemeistert - Gratulation!
Wenn's alte Jahr erfolgreich war, dann freue dich aufs neue.
Und war es schlecht, ja dann erst recht.
Albert Einstein
Einstein, who was pragmatic as well.
Can't every day, even every thought, be a new beginning for good?
Among the great personalities who have researched, taught and studied at JLU are not Einstein, but Justus Liebig, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (Nobel Prize for Physics 1901), Wangari Maathai (Nobel Peace Prize 2004), Volker Bouffier (former Minister President of Hesse), Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Federal President) and many more.
