280222 VU Towards Zero Pollution: Environmental Biotransformation of Organic Chemicals (2023W)

The overarching goal of this course is to deepen your understanding on the environmental biotransformation and biodegradation of organic anthropogenic organic. The focus will be on chemicals that are relevant environmental contaminants – including, but not limited to, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and plastics – and on environmental systems that receive these chemicals in response to human activities. We will cover the most important steps of contaminant biodegradation, key factors that influence this process, as well as analytical techniques and experimental approaches to investigate environmental contaminant biodegradation. We will discuss how this knowledge can be used in the transition towards a sustainable use of synthetic chemicals. Additionally, we will train to critically assess research articles on the topic of this course.

The course will have two parts. The first part will consist of lectures on topics related to environmental contaminant biodegradation – including enzymology, microbial metabolism, emerging contaminants, biotransformation pathway prediction, and environmental analytical chemistry. This part will be accompanied by exercises to strengthen your understanding. The second part will consist of journal club-style sessions, during which you will apply and extend your knowledge through discussions about key research articles on environmental contamination biodegradation. You will present key points on selected research articles to your peers and subsequently moderate a scientific discussion.

This course is targeted to students that have already studied the basics of environmental organic chemistry (e.g., in course 280206-1: Organic Pollutants in the Environment) and are typically in their third MSc semester.