A team from the Institute of Food Biotechnology at the Department of Food Science and Technology won the RIZ Genius Ideenpreis award in the category "Intelligent Measuring and Sensor Technology".

Winner RIZ Genius Ideenpreis Biosensor for the continuous measurement of the blood glucose concentration Alfons Felice, Wolfgang Harreither, Roman Kittl, Roland Ludwig and Christoph Sygmund work within their project “DirectSens” (www.directsens.com) on the development of a novel biosensor for the continuous measurement of the blood glucose concentration in diabetes patients. The patented technology is based on a genetically engineered enzyme. The enzyme cellobiose dehydrogenase is immobilized on the surface of an electrode and transforms the concentration of the blood glucose via direct electron transfer into a proportional measuring signal. The technology has several advantages over already existing products on the market e.g. the omission of redox mediators and the independence from oxygen. The team currently develops and tests a prototype of the biosensor within the framework of a prototype project financed by Tecnet Equity GmbH (www.tecnet.co.at). The prize was awarded in the middle of December 2011 at the Technologie- und Forschungszentrum (TFZ) Wiener Neustadt by the Niederösterreichische Gründeragentur RIZ (www.riz.at/ideenpreis/). Out of 110 submissions the RIZ jury nominated 27 projects for a prize in four catagories. The winners were granted 6000 EUR each. Team DirectSens at the award ceremony
(Wirtschaftslandesrätin Dr. Petra Bohuslav, Dr. Roland Ludwig, Dr. Christoph Sygmund, Dr. Roman Kittl, DI Alfons Felice, RIZ-Geschäftsführerin Mag. Petra Patzelt)

15.02.2012