We produce more than 400 million tonnes of plastic in the world every year. Plastic has many good functions, but we have not yet solved the big problem: What do we do with all the plastic we finish using? On January 18 a new centre for plastic research, En'Zync, were inaugurated at iNANO.

Several iNANO researchers could go on Christmas holidays with the good news that they had received one or more research grants. Congratulations to Henrik Birkedal, Julián Valero Moreno, Menglin Chen, Jørgen Kjems, Magnus Kjærgaard, Poul Nissen, Michael Truong-Giang Nguyen, and Nikolaj Roth. Thank you to the Novo Nordisk Foundation, AUFF NOVA, and the Carlsberg Foundation.

Supported by The International Network Programme from the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science (UFM), scientists from iNANO are exploring new network opportunities and partnerships with researchers in Japan.

iNANO researchers, Magnus Kjær, Daniel Otzen, and Ebbe S. Andersen have together with other teachers at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics (Aarhus University) joined forces with former students to develop the teaching of structural biology. The result is a whole new way of teaching computer skills, and it has been well received by new students.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation grants a total of DKK 13.6 million to five iNANO associated researchers. The purpose of the grants is to support basic research at the highest international level. Congratulations to Brigitte Städler, Julián Valero Moreno, Mie Andersen, Troels Skrydstrup, and Menglin Chen.

The need for energy storage is increasing, but with the present technology, there are not enough resources to produce the necessary batteries. On November 16, 2022, industry and academia came together to discuss challenges in connection with battery materials and their recycling at the 8th Brainnovation Day at Aarhus University.

Independent Research Fund Denmark has granted DKK 2.9 million to Anja-Verena Mudring (Department of Chemistry & iNANO) for research into how to prevent cooling systems from exacerbating global warming.

MedicQuant, a spin-out company from iNANO and Department of Chemistry, has been granted one of the newly awarded AU Launch grants. MedicQuant is headed by former PhD students and post docs at iNANO, Line Debois Frejlev Nielsen and Malthe Hansen-Bruhn, and they receive DKK 197,000 from the entrepreneurial grant AU Launch for business development.

Despite numerous trials in the past decade prostate tumors have so far resisted treatment with immunotherapy. Now iNANO and Aarhus University Hospital researchers join forces to move prostate cancer immunotherapies closer to the clinic by using Albumin-fused T-cell engagers as a potential immunotherapy tailored to selected prostate cancer patients.

Danish researchers have determined the three-dimensional structure of the proteolytic enzyme PAPP-A. The results may allow us to better understand the basic biology that regulates linear growth of vertebrates. The same regulatory mechanisms are also involved in several age-related diseases, and thus, the research is an important step towards the development of novel types of drugs.