Ralf Reski

Prof. Ralf Reski is a Full Professor of Plant Biotechnology at the University of Freiburg's Faculty of Biology. He leads the Plant Biotechnology lab, focusing on mosses as model organisms for both basic and applied research. His work spans gene function analysis, biopharmaceutical production (e.g., spider silk proteins, human Factor H), and evolutionary studies. Reski founded Greenovation Biotech (now eleva GmbH) and is a principal investigator in three Excellence Clusters (BIOSS, CIBSS, livMatS) and NFDI DataPLANT. He holds affiliations with École supérieure de biotechnologie Strasbourg.

Education: Studied biology and chemistry at Universities of Giessen and Hamburg (1977–1984). PhD in Genetics (1990), Habilitation in General Botany (1994). Heisenberg Fellow (1996–1998). Over 360 publications, 24 patents, and €28.5M third-party funding. Supervised 55 PhD students and 115+ theses across levels.

Research highlights include first genome sequencing of bryophytes, development of the moss bioreactor, and discoveries in moss-based protein production. Current projects address climate resilience of mosses, evolutionary adaptations, and industrial applications like biopharmaceuticals. Labs maintain the International Moss Stock Center, housing the world’s largest Sphagnum collection.