Leibniz Conference on Bioactive Compounds 2026

💊 From RNA technologies to microgel systems and living therapeutic materials: That was the Leibniz Conference on Bioactive Compounds 2026

The focus was on 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿, 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 — ranging from bioactive RNA technologies for sustainable agriculture and microgel-based plant protection systems to ultrasound-controlled activation of pharmaceutical compounds, as well as new approaches in drug discovery, antiviral strategies, natural product chemistry, and nutrition.

It became clear that bioactive compounds are not the subject of a single discipline. Medical science, plant biotechnology, materials research, natural product chemistry, and food chemistry often ask similar questions — such as how active compounds can be specifically activated, stabilized, transported, or even identified in the first place. The answers vary greatly depending on the system.

🎖️ It was also particularly exciting to see the work of emerging researchers. The award-winning presentations demonstrated how closely synthetic biology, materials design, and therapeutic applications are now being integrated. We congratulate Varun Tadimarri on winning the Best Young Researcher Talk award for his presentation “Programmable Lactobacilli-based living materials as Next-Gen Therapeutics” and Rajat Anand on winning the Best Poster Presentation award for his topic “CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing in Lactobacilli: Enhancing Bacteriocin Production for Skin and Wound Infection Therapy”.

Many thanks to all speakers, participants, and organizers for two days full of insights, critical questions, and interdisciplinary discussions.

Photos: Bernd Rupp; @email

Photos: Bernd Rupp; @email