About this Research Topic
Environmental contamination is a worldwide problem, which arises from the intense use of chemicals, medicines, discharge of oils, fuels, solvents, disposal of electronic materials, dye industries, among others. The emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals products (including antibiotics, disinfectants, hormones) are concerning due to their toxicity, even in low concentrations, their persistence in the environment and mainly the inefficiency of the conventional system of water and sewage treatments worldwide.
According to the WHO the auto medication of antibiotics and the use of chemical products keeps increasing, specially during the Covid-19 pandemic, and this may lead to the acceleration of the emergence and spread of microbial resistance; and other environmental issues.
The bioremediation of antibiotics has potential as a biological technique for wastewater treatment and effluent quality improvement. The application of microorganisms or their enzymes seems to be a suitable option, due to their good adsorption efficiency, great surface area and notable active sites for interaction with contaminants in wastewater. Moreover, microbial enzymes decompose certain pollutants, such as antibiotics, hormones and others, thus transforming them in inert substances, and are therefore one of the most powerful tools for biodegradation.
With this in mind, this Research Topic will be focused on novel techniques in bioremediation applying microorganisms and their enzymes to remove or reduce the emerging pollutants, particularly pharmaceutical products such as antibiotics, antimicrobials and hormones, from wastewater. Authors are welcome to show the laboratory assays utilizing microorganisms or their biomolecules for the main purpose of degradation, mitigation or reduction of pollutants from contaminated water. We are particularly looking for papers that investigate a variety of processes, discussing breakthrough technological developments (including e.g. original research, perspectives, minireviews, commentaries and opinion papers) in the following areas:
1. Characterization & utilization of native microbe-derived enzymes for the breakdown of pharmaceutical products
2. Engineering of microbe-derived enzymes for the removal of pharmaceutical products
3. Characterization & utilization of microbe-derived chemical (pharmaceutical) adsorption mechanisms
Please note that all submitted manuscripts need to explore a clear hypothesis, merely descriptive papers won't be considered for review.
According to the WHO the auto medication of antibiotics and the use of chemical products keeps increasing, specially during the Covid-19 pandemic, and this may lead to the acceleration of the emergence and spread of microbial resistance; and other environmental issues.
The bioremediation of antibiotics has potential as a biological technique for wastewater treatment and effluent quality improvement. The application of microorganisms or their enzymes seems to be a suitable option, due to their good adsorption efficiency, great surface area and notable active sites for interaction with contaminants in wastewater. Moreover, microbial enzymes decompose certain pollutants, such as antibiotics, hormones and others, thus transforming them in inert substances, and are therefore one of the most powerful tools for biodegradation.
With this in mind, this Research Topic will be focused on novel techniques in bioremediation applying microorganisms and their enzymes to remove or reduce the emerging pollutants, particularly pharmaceutical products such as antibiotics, antimicrobials and hormones, from wastewater. Authors are welcome to show the laboratory assays utilizing microorganisms or their biomolecules for the main purpose of degradation, mitigation or reduction of pollutants from contaminated water. We are particularly looking for papers that investigate a variety of processes, discussing breakthrough technological developments (including e.g. original research, perspectives, minireviews, commentaries and opinion papers) in the following areas:
1. Characterization & utilization of native microbe-derived enzymes for the breakdown of pharmaceutical products
2. Engineering of microbe-derived enzymes for the removal of pharmaceutical products
3. Characterization & utilization of microbe-derived chemical (pharmaceutical) adsorption mechanisms
Please note that all submitted manuscripts need to explore a clear hypothesis, merely descriptive papers won't be considered for review.
Keywords: Pharmaceuticals, Wastewater, Bioremediation
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
