(Left to right) Photo Caption: Dr. Wang, Dr. Ji, Prof. Hao, Prof. Pierre, and Prof. Liu
Professor Zhihui Hao and Professor Zhenhui Liu, respectively from the China Agricultural University in Beijing and the Oceanic University of China in Qingdao together with their colleagues Dr Wang and Dr Ji visited the University of Malta for collaborative meetings regarding the NASDAC project. This China-Malta collaborative project, funded by Xjenza Malta (formerly the MCST) has been looking into easy of using microalgae to produce a peptide antibiotic in bulk and open up biotechnological pathways for the cheap production of biological medications as well as possibly food proteins. Such a technology can provide a method to produce expensive drugs cheaply using sun and sea water and also additionally traps CO2 a win-win result. The project also looked into the anti-tumour and bone building effects of such an antibiotic peptide produced by these Chinese Universities.
The professors met with Prof. Pierre Schembri-Wismayer and Dr Marton Szoboszlay - the Local primary investigator and the senior post-doc working on the project as well as Prof. Melissa Formasa and Margherita Muscat, who worked on the anti-osteoporotic studies and Dr Lucienne Gatt who worked on the anti-cancer effects of the peptide.
The Professors were also introduced to the Internationalisation committee of Xjenza Malta, led on the day by deputy director George Bugeja and also visited the Salina Nature Reserve to see the salt pans where microalga Dunaliella Salina may grow naturally in Malta.
Research is progressing well with initial discussions about a potential patent form the work under way, as well as discussions about future funding to further extend this research.
