This Tuesday, 17 September, marks 341 years since Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch merchant, sent a letter to the Royal Society of London in which he reported the first observation of unicellular organisms. To mark this occasion, Instituto Superior Técnico hosted another edition of International Microorganism Day, featuring activities involving Técnico professors and iBB researchers.
During the day, the garden of the Chemical Engineering Building at Alameda campus was filled with more than a dozen stalls hosting activities, aimed at raising awareness about the importance of microorganisms and their role in health, the environment, industry, the economy and everyone’s quality of life. The event’s programme also included two talks focusing on the potential of microalgae and the role of microbial genetics in decision-making in the health sector.
On the ‘Microbiology Route’, participants were invited to visit the twelve stalls set up in the garden, with prizes at the end after presenting their ‘passport’ stamped by every stand. At one of these stalls, people discussed the various types of yeast used in wine production, each giving the drink a different flavour (floral, fruity…).
At another point on the route, people were talking about using biochips to identify pathogens in samples (such as viruses, bacteria, or fungi, and their respective species). This project involves iBB and INESC Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias. The development of this technology sparks the imagination, suggesting that in the future, it may also be possible to identify which antibiotics or other drugs the microorganism is resistant to and adjust the patient’s treatment accordingly.
In another stall, some LAIST researchers showcased wastewater treatment processes using plates containing cultures. The plates demonstrated the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of these treatments through visible changes in microorganisms. The colonies in the plates were arranged to represent characters like Stitch, from Lilo & Stitch, Peppa Pig, and even one of the most famous lines ‘We were on a break!’ from the TV show Friends.
The Técnico Brewers Club also participated in the event, offering visitors a chance to taste their beers and highlighting the role of microorganisms in the different processes necessary to produce this beverage.
Margarida Costa, a master’s student in microbiology, was curious to explore the event. ‘I find it interesting how laboratories usually showcase their activities, showing people what they do’, she shares. ‘I’m just a visitor, but I have some friends here. All these people are here to talk about their projects for everyone to understand, making this event interactive and eye-catching’.
Tiago Sousa, a 2nd-year student (Undergraduate Programme in Biological Engineering), says the activity ‘is closely related to his course’. For instance, he shared that he had a Microbiology class on the same morning and found ‘the content very similar to what they study in class’. He believes that ‘most of the stalls are run by research groups, which allows students to discover possible topics for their thesis or find groups to work with’.
