April 27, 2011

Harmful algae and nutritious sea vegetables to share top billing at summer symposium

An overabundance of harmful algal species can endanger public health and strain local economies. Such blooms are increasingly reported worldwide. They include the ocean and estuary algal blooms that cause various types of shellfish poisoning – paralytic, diarrheic, neurotoxic, and amnesic. Harmful blooms also arise in lakes, ponds, rivers and reservoirs. These can damage the nerves and liver in people and animals.

A special session at the combined Phycological Society of America and International Society of Protistologists 2011 annual meeting this summer in Seattle will look at algae that are beneficial or detrimental from a human health perspective. The societies’ members are scientists and students in marine and freshwater botany and related fields.

The Algae and Human Health Symposium will take place from 8:30 a.m. to noon, Friday, July 15, in Kane Hall at the UW.

For more information: http://www.washington.edu/news/articles/dangerous-algae-and-nutritious-seaweed-to-share-top-billing-symposium