Enzymes for Solving Humankind's Problems

A general overview of the subject.- State-of-art of the utilization of natural and artificial systems in general problems that affect the human life and society.- Hydrogen production (natural systems).- Hydrogen production (artificial systems).- Carbon footprint (carbon dioxide economy).- Carbon dioxide utilisation - general overview.- Carbon dioxide utilisation - bioelectrochemical approaches.-  Methane production.- Methane oxidation.- Biomass transformation and production of added-value compounds.- Biocatalysis for the production of added-value compounds.- Nitrogen footprint.- Nitrogen fixation and agriculture.- Reversing nitrogen fixation.- Nitrous oxide emission under control.- Oxygen splitting and photosynthesis.- Enzymatic Biofuel Cells.- Energy from bacteria.- Interspecies Electron Transfer.- Biocatalysis and pharmaceuticals.- Proteins, peptides and enzymes in our lives.

José J. G. Moura is a Professor at the Department of Chemistry (LAQV, REQUIMTE), NOVA School of Science and Technology (Portugal), and his main research focuses on Bioinorganic Chemistry and the role of metals in Biology. He was previously a Research Specialist at the University of Minnesota (USA) and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Georgia, Athens (USA). He is also the Past President of the Chemistry Department and President of the Scientific Council at NOVA School of Science and Technology, a Portuguese Delegate to COST and INTAS, a member of Scientific Panel in the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Portuguese National Grant Agency (FCT/MCTES), NST (US) Specialized Panel, and of several scientific editorial boards. In 2006, he was elected member of Academia das Ciências de Lisboa and, in 2010, elected President of the Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, for 2 years. He is also Director and Curator of FCT Library.

Isabel Moura is a Professor at the Department of Chemistry (LAQV, REQUIMTE), NOVA School of Science and Technology (Portugal), and her main research interests include structure-function of metalloproteins; application of biochemical and spectroscopic tools (NMR, EPR and Mössbauer); proteins involved in relevant bacterial metabolic pathways - nitrogen and sulfur biocycles; active sites containing copper, cobalt, haems, iron-sulfur centres; association of iron-sulfur centres with molybdenum, tungsten, nickel, sirohaem and flavins; and new type of clusters and new metal associations. She was previously a Visiting Professor at the University of Georgia, Athens (USA). During the period 2000/2011, she was the Head of the Chemistry Department of NOVA School of Science and Technology (Portugal) and the Director of the Associated Laboratory REQUIMTE for Sustainable Chemistry.

Luisa B. Maia holds a Ph.D. degree in Pharmaceutical and Clinical Biochemistry and presently is an Assistant Researcher at LAQV,