A Systems Approach to Bioremediation

Speaker: Professor Lisa Alvarez-Cohen, Superfund Research Program http://superfund.berkeley.edu/ and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/ University of California Berkeley http://berkeley.edu/. Research support from the Superfund Research Program of NIEHS http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/sup...

Professor Alvarez-Cohen develops methods for bioremediation of contaminants such as perchloroethene and trichloroethene using naturally occurring microorganisms, particularly one type known as "dehalococcoides." She uses advanced molecular methods to understand key elements of this process, looking at increasingly complex cultures of microorganisms. Molecular tools provide clues about how the systems work and, consequently, what can be done to enhance bioremediation. Such actions include providing nutrients that increase the rate of breakdown of toxic substances into non toxic forms and that support the growth of all necessary organisms.