Lecture
NGL Lecture - Are nanoplastics dangerous to your health?
- Date
- Wednesday 22 January 2025
- Time
- Location
- Gorlaeus Gebouw
Einsteinweg 55
2333CA Leiden - Room
- CM.1.26
Tiny particles of plastic are everywhere
The environment is full of tiny particles of plastic called nanoplastics. These dust-like particles are released in large numbers from plastic trash when it is dumped in the ground or into the sea. Scientists are now detecting these particles inside our bodies, and there are concerns about their possible effects on our health. Michael Richardson will discuss his research into nanoparticles and their effects on living things. This work is a collaboration between several great Leiden Institutions: the Institute of Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, the Institute for Environmental Sciences (CML) and Naturalis.
About the speaker
Michael Richardson is a British citizen who carries out research in developmental biology. He was appointed in 2000 to the van der Leeuw chair of evolutionary developmental biology at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands. His active research focus is: fundamental developmental biology (the evolutionary developmental biology of vertebrates, mainly reptiles and fish); and applied developmental biology (zebrafish embryos as models for compound screening). These two areas synergise in his future plans to use zebrafish embryos as screening models to study the evolutionary developmental biology of the snake venom delivery system.