Research The Bayer Scientific Magazin, Edition 28

needed to identify and isolate the genes 

underlying the desired traits. 

“Knowing which genes are responsible 

for yield will enable us to optimize gene 

combinations through breeding, discover 

even better versions as well as engineer 

some genes to increase the efficiency of 

those pathways leading to higher yields,” 

explains Feuillet. All approaches that lead 

to greater diversity in wheat cultivars are 

therefore part of the wheat tool box that 

Bayer CropScience is currently developing. 

For this reason, experts at Bayer are col-

laborating with a variety of external part-

ners, including biotech companies such as 

KeyGene in the Netherlands, the Australian 

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial 

Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Na-

tional Agricultural Research and Develop-

ment Institute in Romania. The University 

of Nebraska, South Dakota State University 

and  Texas A&M University, which have ex-

pertise in drought-resistant varieties, and 

Kansas State University, a world-renowned 

center for characterizing and using wild 

wheat varieties, are also on board. 

But the future of this golden grain cannot 

be ensured purely by developing premi-

um wheat varieties. New, more effective 

crop protection products are also part of 

Bayer’s strategy, as is working together 

closely with farmers. “Even today, pro-

ducers can achieve significantly higher 

yields by making full use of every oppor-

tunity for good agricultural practice, from 

crop rotation to optimum use of fertil-

izers and crop protection products,” says  

Patterson. Digital technology is also in-

creasingly being used to develop tailored 

regional solutions. For instance, sensors 

and  cameras  mounted  on  farm  ma-

chinery provide valuable data about the 

soil, moisture content, plant growth and 

yields. “With new varieties, effective crop 

protection products and optimal manage-

ment strategies, wheat yields could again 

significantly increase to meet the needs 

of the growing population,” estimates 

Patterson. This would effectively amount 

to a revolution in wheat and make a vital 

contribution to global food security.

Precision work: sterile tweezers are used to remove stamens from a wheat ear (photo left) to ensure that the plant cannot self-pollinate  

and  can thus be selectively cross-bred. In the greenhouse, Céline Zimmerli and Guillaume Plé (photo right, left to right) test how the devel-

oped varieties behave under different light, temperature and nutrient conditions.

International network for an 

effective wheat strategy

www.research.bayer.com/

wheat

More information on this topic

Source: FAO Statistical Yearbook 2013

How wheat is used

Wheat is not just used to make bread and pasta. The cereal is also used in the 

 manufacture of industrial products such as biofuel and in animal feed for livestock 

and companion animals.

Miscellaneous 

Food 

Animal feed 

Industrial 

 applications 

6 %

17 %

65 %

12 %

Bayer research 28    July 2015

9

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Dangerous beauty: lung cancer, shown here in purple, is one of the most common and dangerous forms of cancer. Novel immu-

notherapies might be able to help even those patients who have already reached an advanced stage of the disease in the future.

IMMUNOTHERAPIES: NOVEL APPROACHES IN ONCOLOGY

Unleashing the immune 

 response to cancer

Our bodies possess an extensive array of defense weapons for successfully fighting 

disease. Now cancer researchers want to systematically enhance the capabilities of 

the human immune system: scientists from Bayer HealthCare are collaborating with 

international experts in oncology on novel immunotherapies that could help cancer 

patients mobilize their body’s resistance forces in the fight against this disease.

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Bayer research 28    July 2015

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Photos: P

eter Ginter/Bayer AG (8), Matthias Sandmann/Bayer AG (1), Eye of Science/Agentur Focus (1), private (2)

Cover story

  MEDICINE

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Microscopic watchmen continuously police our bloodstream, 

tirelessly tracking down microorganisms that cause disease. Bac-

teria and viruses are eliminated by the immune system as quickly 

as possible. Our body’s police force is equipped with various re-

ceptors for this purpose, which it uses to scan the surface of all 

cells and particles it encounters, as if patting them down with 

tiny hands. If immune cells detect a foreign structure, they im-

mediately sound the alarm. This molecular patrol is even capable 

of identifying cancer cells – a fact that has recently revolution-

ized cancer therapy. Researchers are employing a new approach 

called immunotherapy to enable our immune system to autono-

mously combat tumors. But to do so, the immune cells must first 

complete rigorous training. In the lymph nodes, they learn how 

to distinguish between the body’s own tissue and foreign struc-

tures. The researchers’ immunotherapy approaches essentially 

equip the body’s police force with a special training unit: the 

immune cells learn to very reliably detect disguised cancer cells, 

and can then eliminate them. “One of the most promising areas 

of immunotherapy research is the checkpoint blockade,” says Dr. 

Bertolt Kreft, Head of Immunotherapy & Antibody Conjugates in 

Oncology Research at Bayer HealthCare in Berlin. This approach 

focuses on the interaction between cancer and immune cells. 

Through various signals, the body controls for how long and how 

strongly the immune system should fight tumor cells or patho-

gens. After a certain time, inhibitory signals make sure the body’s 

police force does not get overenthusiastic and attack healthy 

tissue. “It is this security system in the body, however, that cancer 

cells manipulate,” Kreft says, “because tumors are also capable 

of emitting inhibitory signals. They suppress the attack by the 

body’s molecular watchmen, while remaining intact themselves. 

In a sense, cancer cells engage the immune system’s emergency 

brake, turning it into an idling engine that cannot shift into gear.”  

The checkpoint blockade releases this brake: it reactivates the 

body’s immune system, which can then successfully fight the 

cancer. Doctors, researchers and patients have high hopes for 

this new treatment approach. “We are all very excited to see 

how the checkpoint strategy influences cancer therapy,” says 

Dr. Fred Aswad, Head of the Immunoprofiling group in Biologics 

Research at Bayer HealthCare in San Francisco. Advanced lung 

10

years

In some patients with metastatic 

 malignant melanoma, the overall survival 

time was increased to more than 10 years 

following immunotherapy compared to 

ten months previously.

Source: European Cancer Congress 2013 

Cooperation partners: Giovanni Mastrogiulio and Dr. Yingzi Ge (photo left, left to right) are working on immunotherapeutic approaches at the  

Bayer / German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) Joint Immunotherapy Laboratory. Bayer antibody specialist Dr. Fred Aswad (photo right), meanwhile, 

 analyzes cell cultures in San Francisco.

Checkpoint blockade releases the immune 

 system’s hand brake

MEDICINE 

Cover story

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