The plant breeder Kartoffelzucht Böhm has increased the research network for the Taraxagum project, which aims to harvest natural rubber from dandelion. Gaining even more influence over dandelions' breeding is the goal of the reinforcement.

“We are pleased to welcome another plant cultivation specialist to our network. The internationally active company Böhm has great experience in the breeding of cultivated plants. These are ideal prerequisites for our Taraxagum project,” commented Dr. Carla Recker, Head of the Expert field Materials Chemistry and Taraxagum at Continental Tires.

The long-term Taraxagum project's objective is to industrialize dandelion rubber cultivation. Dandelion rubber will be utilized for a variety of future products, including automobile and truck tires, agricultural tires, and technical rubber items, in addition to the Urban Taraxagum bicycle tire, which is already on the market.

A network of key partners for the research includes the University of Münster, the Julius Kühn Institute, the plant breeders ESKUSA and Kartoffelzucht Böhm, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME). This network is funded by the European Union and supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Food and Agriculture, and Economics, Labor, and Tourism of the State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.