MSI Public Lecture Series

There are many concerns about the quality of the food we eat.  While many of us are aware of contamination by compounds such as PCB's and metals such as mercury, there are a variety of natural toxins that can accumulate in seafood as well.  My talk will address the causes and mechanisms by which toxic compounds produced by marine microscopic plants can enter the human food web.  Most of these toxins are associated with human illnesses and many are straightfoward, if expensive, to monitor for.  For example, Karenia brevis  forms massive blooms in the Gulf of Mexico and causes neurotoxic shellfish poisoning when contaminated shellfish are consumed.  Fortunately, there are good analytical methods and monitoring programs that prevent significant public health problems.  However, not all these toxins are as easily dealt with. Ciguatera, for example, is caused by a toxin produced on tropical reef systems. It affects 50,000, 500,000 people globally every year.  There are no practical monitoring tools, and cases of this normally tropical disease are reported northern Europe and the U.S. as the result of expanding markets for tropical fish.  Symptoms mimic many other illnesses, and diagnosis is by exclusion.  A case study from local waters will be presented to highlight some of the difficulties associated with understanding how algal toxins affect humans.
 

The free lecture will be held at 7 p.m. in the Visitor Center of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, and the public is invited to attend.