Objective
Toxin-producing microalgae have been responsible for great environmental, economic and public health catastrophes throughout history. These "Harmful Algal Blooms" are known to cause a wide range of detrimental effects such as cutaneous damage in swimmers, nervous and digestive disturbances through contaminated seafood, which can even lead to death, physical impairment of fish and shellfish, and degradation of habitats. Moreover, these direct effects of toxic algae have important economic impacts for instan ce in tourism, fishing and fish fanning. In the last decades the problem has turned more and more critical, because alteration of ecological systems as a consequence of human activity seems to enhance proliferation of toxin-producing algae. A concentratio n of only a few cells per litre of some microalgae may produce harmful toxic effects. Therefore, developing and commercialising an adequate device to spot such organisms would be of great utility in order to avoid, for instance, their appearance in fish fa rms. The specific recognition of a poisonous strain is however complicated. A distinction at molecular level is necessary in order to discriminate between harmful and inoffensive strains, which are, in some cases morphologically identical. The project her e presented aims at developing a biological sensor capable of detecting rapidly and specifically the presence of harmful algal blooms. The in-situ specific recognition of algae's ribosomal RNA will be possible by means of a Sandwich-Hybridisation on an ele ctrochemical sensor. A multi-probe chip will be designed to obtain tailor made sensors containing the most relevant species for a determined area. In order to achieve an adequate device for field applications, a fluidic cell and a warming chamber, as well as the corresponding control software will be developed to automate and optimise the hybridisation process. Thanks to the characteristics above described the ALGADEC device will constitute an adequate device for HABs monitoring. In addition, all developme nts will be performed aiming at the achievement of a cost-effective device in order to enable fish- and shellfish-farmers to check the toxic algal levels of their waters and thus take the corresponding measures to prevent economic loses and to ensure produ ct safety.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors biosensors
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology phycology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP6-2002-SME-1
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Data not available
Coordinator
BREMERHAVEN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.