OXFORD, Miss. – Sea organisms and their potential for pharmaceutical purposes are the focus of this month’s installment of a monthly public science forum organized by the University of Mississippi Department of Physics and Astronomy.
The fall semester’s second meeting of the Oxford Science Cafe is set for 6 p.m. Sept. 17 at Lusa Pastry Cafe, 2305 West Jackson Ave. Marc Slattery, UM professor of pharmacognosy, will discuss “Treasures from the Sea: Drug Discovery in the Marine Environment.” The program is free and open to the public.
“Oceans constitute 75 percent of the surface of our planet, yet drug discovery from marine organisms is still in its infancy relative to the search for natural products from terrestrial plant communities,” Slattery said. “As marine environments are damaged by increasing natural disasters and human activities, there is a very real probability that these sources will be lost forever.”
Slattery’s 30-minute presentation will provide an overview of research conducted in his lab, including collection techniques, sourcing strategies and future approaches.
“Evidence to date indicates that the marine environment represents a much more diverse source of chemical agents than terrestrial plants, which should translate into a greater number of potential pharmaceuticals or other biotechnological products,” Slattery said. “My presentation will summarize some conservation efforts aimed at mitigating these potential losses.”
Slattery received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Loyola Marymount University in 1981, his master’s in marine biology from San Jose State University at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and his doctorate from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has worked as the project manager for the Aquatic Toxicology division of EA Engineering, Science & Technology in Lafayette, Calif.
With expertise in chemical ecology research, Slattery was awarded a National Science Foundation Marine Biotechnology Fellowship at the University of Guam in 1994. He was appointed director of the NOAA National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology’s Ocean Biotechnology Center in 2001.
The Science Cafe began three years ago and was held in Lusa Pastry Cafe on North Lamar Boulevard before the business opened a second location on West Jackson Avenue.
For more information about Oxford Science Cafe programs, go to http://www.phy.olemiss.edu/oxfordsciencecafe.
By Edwin Smith