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Designação do Projecto: Projecto SmartCell Código do Projecto: Lisboa-01-0247-FEDER-047169 Objectivo Principal: Reforçar a investigação, o desenvolvimento tecnológico e inovação Região de intervenção: Lisboa Entidade Beneficiária: SMARTFREEZ, LDA Data de Aprovação: 30-03-2021 Apoio Financeiro da União Europeia: 158.752,30 € Objectivos, Actividades e Resultados esperados/atingidos: O projecto Smartcell visa desenvolver e converter tecnologia criogénica da SmartFreez em sistemas aplicáveis à criopreservação de terapias celulares, terapias genéticas e plasma por parte da indústria biofarmacêutica global. Objectivos do Projecto: Desenvolver novos conhecimentos que permitam alargar o âmbito da sua propriedade intelectual; Validar e aperfeiçoar a aplicação da sua tecnologia através de ensaios com linhas celulares e outras substâncias terapêuticas reais; Converter a tecnologia em protótipos e sistemas aplicáveis em ambiente industrial.   Actividades do Projecto: Estudos preliminares à escala laboratorial da dinâmica de congelação-descongelação de ceélulas; Construção de pilotos e protótipos de equipamentos de congelação-descongelação de células; Testes e ensaios; Promoção e divulgação de resultados; Gestão técnica e financeira.         Parceiros:    

CRYO-FISH will progress on basic knowledge of the reproductive biology of endemic freshwater ichthyofauna of the Iberian Peninsula, assessing for the first-time gamete quality throughout the breeding season. New techniques for gamete assay and protocols for cryopreservation will the purpose of creating a genetic resource bank for biodiversity preservation. Populations of fish species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula have been declining since the mid-20th century due to several factors such as habitat loss, water quality deterioration or presence of alien fish species. In this regard, from the 26 native species of the Portuguese freshwater fish, around 70% are already under threat according to the IUCN. From the point of view of basic research, CRYO-FISH is going to reveal unknown aspects of breeding cycle of the most endangered cyprinids, providing data that will help ex situ conservation captivity programs. The data that will be systematically collected and analysed will create knowledge on the right timing to collect gametes and how to manage them to assure artificial propagation of species in captivity. On the other hand, this proposal wishes to lay the groundwork for making a genetic resource bank of the most endangered fish species at a national level. In this regard, new gamete cryopreservation protocols will be designed for the project goal species, being possible to have a wild-phenotypic backup of each population. CRYO-FISH will follow the general politics of EU (H2020 Work Programme 2018-2020), helping to promote the policy goals of open innovation, open science and open to the world (three O's), and our DMP will include several ways of making data FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable). Our DMP will identify just one category of data and materials: “free available data” that you can look here: https://anon.to/7GZwx0

What are the consequences of climate change for fisheries in the Eastern Atlantic? Bio-economic modelling should support the necessary policy adjustments. Climate change and increases in ocean temperatures are considered as some of the main drivers for fish migration to cooler areas. The GenClim project, which will be funded by the European Commission through the BiodivERsA program from 2021, will investigate the changes in fish populations and their genetic adaptation to the changing conditions in the Eastern Atlantic. The focus will be on the North Sea, the Iberian Coast and South Africa. Based on this data, forecasting models for fish stocks will be developed and the economic consequences modeled. The Center for Ocean and Society is responsible for the bio-economic modelling in the project. Other project partners are the Technical University of Denmark - National Institute of Aquatic Resources (project leader), Stellenbosch University (South Africa), Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) (Portugal) and ISPA - Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida (Portugal). Ongoing climate change is rapidly transforming marine ecosystems and communities throughout the world’s oceans. Increases in temperature are considered one of the main drivers of latitudinal distribution shifts in marine fishes, which are predicted to migrate towards cooler areas. These range shifts mean that commercially important species are likely to cross geo-political boundaries, increasing the likelihood of mismatches between current fishing practices (and policies) and future distributions. Forecasting models that predict range shifts are thus essential to anticipate and mitigate potential fisheries conflicts and the subsequent socio-economic impacts of a moving resource. Genomic data has the potential to increase the accuracy of forecasting models, by identifying locally adapted populations that might perform better/worse under certain climate scenarios.   Main objectives: GenClim brings together state-of-the-art genomics, forecasting modelling and socio-economic modelling to disentangle the multiple consequences of range shifts of commercially exploited marine fishes. Identify and assess the main genomic changes and the drivers of differentiation between core, leading and trailing edges of populations of range shifting species Merluccius merluccius, M. paradoxus and Engraulis encrasicolus. Improve the ability to foresee future range shifts by including genomic information, and the likelihood of populations persisting, expanding or collapsing under a changing and variable climate. Evaluate if the reliability of ecological forecasts depends on life-history features and evolutionary histories of species, or if they are primarily driven by region specific climatic variability. Assess if the combination of genomic data and forecasting models can be used to anticipate socio-economic consequences of status-quo policies as well as of different management options, and thereby inform advice for relevant stakeholders, such as the International Council for Exploration of the Sea, the European Union, the Benguela Current Commission and national governments, to mitigate future conflicts arising from shifting resources.   Main activities: GenClim conducts five major activities: sampling, acquiring and analysing genomic data, forecasting modelling, socio-economic modelling and disseminating activities. Sampling will be conducted between Portugal and Denmark in the north-eastern Atlantic, and Namibia and South Africa in the south-eastern Atlantic, targeting over 750 samples per species in each region. These samples will then be used to generate genomic datasets where GenClim will investigate population structure patterns and the presence of adaptive loci that might improve forecasting predictions regarding which populations are more likely to persist or collapse under different scenarios of climatic change. Finally, these forecasts will be used to run socio-economic modelling scenarios to understand which fisheries are more likely to thrive or disappear under different management regimes and climate scenarios. Apart from academic dissemination activities, such as publishing papers and attending conferences, the outputs of GenClim will be of great importance for the development of future policies on fisheries under climate change. As such, engagement with stakeholders (Scientific Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) experts, Benguela Current Commission (BCC), national governments, fishery industry representatives and NGOs) will be conducted via yearly regional workshops and advisory reports. For example, GenClim will provide genomic metrics for the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Benchmarks and National Stock Assessments; while forecasting outputs target the ecosystem overview approach of ICES. A final synthesis report will seek to integrate advice from STEFC Experts and the Coordinating institution to be published and presented at the Annual Science Forum of the BCC.  

As pradarias marinhas são constituídas por plantas vasculares com um sistema subterrâneo de raízes e rizomas, que se reproduzem sexualmente através da produção de flores e frutos. Evoluíra​m de plantas terrestres que regressaram aos mares há cerca de 100 milhões de anos. As ervas marinhas formam habitats complexos, altamente produtivos e de elevada biodiversidade, que fornecem uma infinidade de serviços ecossistémicos altamente valiosos contribuindo decisivamente para o bem-estar humano e a segurança das comunidades costeiras. São de importância fundamental para a produção pesqueira mundial, funcionando como verdadeiras maternidades e fornecendo abrigo e alimento para milhares de espécies, incluindo espécies ameaçadas e carismáticas, como os cavalos marinhos. Estes usam as pradarias marinhas para se agarrarem com as suas caudas preênseis, camuflarem, disfarçarem e capturarem presas. Devido à sua distribuição esparsa, baixa mobilidade e baixa fecundidade, os cavalos-marinhos são particularmente vulneráveis a distúrbios antropogénicos do seu habitat. A Ria Formosa, que outrora suportou o maior número de cavalos-marinhos do mundo, está a sofrer crescentes perturbações que levam ao declínio das ervas e dos cavalos marinhos, cujo número é agora cerca de 10% do que já foi. Embora a degradação do habitat e alguma evidência de pesca ilegal possam ser causas para esse declínio, isso não é totalmente claro não se sabendo por exemplo, como o número de cavalos-marinhos varia sazonal ou anualmente, se existe declínio das fontes alimentares e se elas estão dependentes das ervas marinhas ou a função da estrutura e complexidade do habitat, e da disponibilidade de presas e de luz, no sucesso predatório dos cavalos marinhos.  O objetivo a longo prazo do SeagHorse é a reabilitação e sustentabilidade dos habitats de ervas marinhas e populações de cavalos-marinhos da Ria Formosa. Saiba mais sobre o projeto em: https://www.seaghorse.pt/