Research The Bayer Scientific Magazin, Edition 28

why we want to ensure that we have world-class capabilities 

in partnering.

How would you proceed if you were establishing your own 

start-up company today?

The most important thing is to be passionate about it. You 

can’t be involved with something simply because it happens to 

be trendy. You have to tackle it with conviction – something 

in which you can make full use of all your capabilities. In my 

opinion, one of the most exciting fields of biotechnology is 

the human genome and everything associated with it. That’s 

because the human genome sequence is 99.5 percent identi-

cal no matter how individual we are. Only some of the genes 

contain sequence differences that make each of us unique. 

The task here is to identify the crucial differences that can be 

used, for example, to develop individual therapies. There have 

been enormous technical advances: today we can sequence a 

human genome in just a few days for about US$1,000. In my 

view, all of this offers tremendous potential for committed 

and innovative researchers. I am particularly excited about the 

 potential of new technologies such as DNA editing. 

This inevitably leads to the topic of open innovation. What 

does that mean for you?

I see the concept of making the innovation process more ac-

cessible as an outstanding opportunity to combine research 

potential. For example, our Grants4 initiatives at HealthCare 

provide support in the evaluation of innovative ideas for drug 

and therapeutic targets. We make available funding, tools and 

know-how – and in return we receive innovative ideas from 

academic partners in the areas of oncology, cardiology, hema-

tology and gynecology. Furthermore, we support software and 

hardware applications in the health care sector.

We also provide young start-up companies with laboratory 

facilities and access to global know-how and technical equip-

ment from the Bayer research network in our CoLaborators, 

our new centers for young life science companies. The CoLabo-

rators are located in the immediate vicinity of our pharmaceu-

tical research laboratories in San Francisco and Berlin. The aim 

of the concept is to support academic researchers in further 

developing their companies. At the same time, we want to be 

recognized as the partner of choice for young, ambitious com-

panies that are looking for possible cooperation partners in the 

pharmaceutical industry.

Have such collaborations already yielded concrete successes?

First of all, this cooperation with external partners has pro-

vided new impetus to our research in general and promotes 

out-of-the-box thinking. This is a tremendously important 

process to initiate innovations – for example in cancer therapy. 

We are working very closely together with institutions such as 

the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and have already 

jointly developed a preclinical candidate right from the initial 

idea. We are now planning to transition this candidate to 

clinical development. (See also the cover story “Unleashing the 

immune response to cancer.”) Or take our commitment to bee 

health. Here we can see very clearly how collaborations pay 

Kemal Malik is a member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG. He is 

responsible for innovation and the North and Latin America regions.

off: the health of these insects – which incidentally play an im-

portant role in safeguarding our food supply – is impacted by a 

wide variety of factors including agriculture, disease, parasites 

and extreme weather conditions. Researchers therefore have to 

explore this issue from various perspectives and disciplines. We 

can only do this in cooperation with numerous bee research 

institutes and with agricultural and insect experts from around 

the world.

And in wheat research as well, we have assembled a global net-

work of innovative research institutes and breeding stations – 

including the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research 

Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia. This combined knowledge 

helps in the development of new wheat varieties with traits 

such as drought tolerance, heat resistance or improved fertil-

izer use.

Yet outstanding research in conventional laboratories alone 

does not suffice in the digital age …

That’s right. We also have to directly address the relevant target 

groups for whom – and with whom – we conduct research, as 

these target groups benefit from our products and from collab-

oration with us. Numerous channels are open to us today due 

particularly to increasing digitization. I’m not just talking about 

the well-known social networks, but also specialized digital 

platforms, where we can make direct contact with researchers 

and other companies and thus attract cooperation partners or 

promising young researchers.

Bayer research 28    July 2015

19

INTERVIEW

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Photos: Sabine Bungert/Bayer AG (4), Dirk Hansen/Bayer AG (1), Bayer HealthCar

e (1), private (2)

DR. RALF NAUEN STUDIES INSECT SELF-DEFENSE STRATEGIES 

When caterpillars, beetles or aphids attack fields and no crop 

protection agent is able to stop them, it’s time for Dr. Ralf Nauen 

to step in. Although new, powerful insecticides are being devel-

oped all the time, insect pests can adapt to their environment 

and rapidly evolve mechanisms that render insecticides less ef-

fective. Resistance mechanisms in crop pests are the subject of 

the insect toxicologist’s research at Bayer CropScience. Together 

with his team, Nauen studies how modern insecticides  become 

harmless to some voracious insects – like the pollen beetle, a 

hugely magnified image of which appears on a poster hanging 

over his desk. “There is a risk of massive crop losses when crop 

protection agents become ineffective against pest insects,” the 

biologist explains. “The development of resistance in insects is 

one of the greatest challenges facing modern farming today.” 

This universally acknowledged problem was a touchy issue for a 

long time, and few industry researchers were prepared to talk 

openly about it. But Nauen was opposed to this stance. “It is 

our responsibility to provide information on this subject,” the 

dedicated insect researcher says. Accordingly, it is hugely im-

portant to Nauen for all research results to be published. The 

Bayer expert has published over 150 scientific articles which have 

been cited over 4,000 times worldwide, and presented hundreds 

of papers on the subject. What’s more, his forthright attitude 

has been an encouragement to the entire research community. 

“Many external researchers get in touch with us today because of 

our proactive approach, enabling us to establish an outstanding 

network – and gain valuable new insights,” Nauen says. Using 

this knowledge, Bayer’s scientists can develop new solutions to 

keep insect pests in check. “Our resistance research unit is one 

of the top addresses in the world in the field of pest control,” 

he says proudly.

But behind every success is a good team, as Nauen repeatedly 

emphasizes. “Without my practiced team in the laboratory, we 

would not be where we are today,” he maintains, adding, “Re-

search is all about teamwork.” He is constantly in contact not 

only with his eight co-workers and junior researchers, but also 

with renowned scientists around the globe. For Nauen, working 

in the laboratory with his team is another matter close to his 

heart, because research is not just a job, it is part of his hobby: 

nature. Even as a child, Nauen was fascinated by insects and 

spent time outdoors collecting specimens. Today he combines 

this recreational activity with another passion of his: hiking. “I’m 

always on the go. After a long day at work, I need the change: 

cooking together with my wife, watching a movie, traveling 

over the weekend or meeting friends,” Nauen says. The biolo-

gist is communicative by nature and cultivates close ties with 

his co-workers, as evidenced everywhere by the positive team 

spirit. “We not only have a great deal of freedom to do our own 

Tracking down pests: as Dr. Ralf Nauen well knows, an infestation of pollen 

beetles can lead to extreme harvest losses. One of the insect toxicologist’s 

fields of interest is the resistance mechanisms of this pest.

The dedicated insect 

 researcher 

How do pest insects become resistant to crop protection agents? This is just one of the many questions to which Dr. Ralf 

Nauen of Bayer CropScience is searching for an answer. The insect toxicologist studies resistant pests and, together with 

his team, develops solutions to make farming more sustainable.

From child bug-hunter to dedicated   

insect researcher

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Bayer research 28    July 2015

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