Nowadays, we are technologically so advanced that research does not have to stand still completely, even in "lockdown periods". The majority of my colleagues, but also private contacts, have continued to work from home over the last few weeks. Long overdue documentation was completed or exciting conceptual experiments were developed. Even though this works very well for a limited time, we all miss the personal contact to our colleagues. With my contribution I would like to underline the feeling of isolation which has burdened many people in the last weeks. The rainbow on the laptop refers to the rainbow that isolated children painted on window screens or sidewalks in the spring of 2020 to send an optimistic signal for "fellow sufferers".

The boundaries between disciplines are increasingly blurred these days and scientists work hand in hand in the laboratory. The picture shows my fantasy of interdisciplinary work between biologists and chemists on sustainable production and research of new natural compounds. These can be new pharmaceuticals or secure food for the world's population and often form the basis of the molecules of our future.

We live in a time of change - this also applies to the research of new pharmaceuticals. The photo shows my imagination of a process that combines diverse techniques of biology and chemistry to produce novel biopharmaceuticals. The research of our institutes at the HHU brings us closer to this dream of the sustainable provision of medicines every day.

The red-coloured natural compound prodigiosin is produced by bacteria and can be used as an anticancer- and antibiotic agent. Small foam cubes in the culture medium are able to adsorb the natural compound which offers an easy extraction.