MARE co-organizes one of the largest conferences in the world about marine natural products

A week that, in the opinion of the president of the Polytechnic of Leiria, Rui Pedrosa, was characterized by “new discoveries”, “new global projects and joint challenges that are sure to be born” brought together two of the world's largest conferences in the area of marine natural products - the XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products (MaNaPro) and the XV European Congress on Marine Natural Products (ECMNP).

Held for the first time in Portugal, between 1st and 5th September, the event, co-organized by MARE, gathered around 300 researchers from five continents at the Polytechnic of Leiria, reaffirming Portugal's potential in the area of ​​science and technology of the sea – an important area once it’ss “one of the greatest opportunities to generate economic value and gives solutions to various societal problems, namely in the area of ​​health”, explains Rui Pedrosa.

In addition to its distinct presence at the exhibition, MARE presented 13 papers that, according to MARE researcher Susana Mendes, focused on the study of “natural product chemistry, isolation of bioactive compounds from various algal species, and practical applications, whether in food or medicine”. These same works could therefore reflect “the research that has been developed by the group in the field of chemistry and biotechnology, namely in the field of antitumor, neuroprotective and antioxidant activity”, concludes the researcher.