Neptune Seminar Series | Joana Fernandes | 17 May | 12h

 

 

Title: Biodegradation of pharmaceuticals by estuarine bacteria - cleanup technologies based in natural environments.

 

 

Name: Joana Fernandes (CIIMAR)

 

 

Abstract: Contamination by pharmaceutical active compounds has been recognized as a growing problem that needs to be addressed. In the last years, the consumption of pharmaceuticals has been increasing, and there is an urgent demand for new compounds to tackle old and new diseases. This scenario leads to the incessant release of pharmaceuticals into the environment mainly through wastewaters from urban, hospital, livestock and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries. Bioremediation technologies based on native microbial communities can be presented as a sustainable solution. Degradation of pollutants by native microorganisms is known as an important detoxification process. Thus, bioremediation technologies, selecting natural degrading bacteria through enrichment processes, are being optimized to develop bacterial consortia able to degrade different pharmaceuticals with minimal long-term influence in the contaminated site.

 

Free entrance. Registration mandatory to divulgacao@ciimar.up.pt