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DTSTAMP:20250421T201000Z
UID:1744900781147@thor.lawrence.edu
CATEGORIES:Speakers
DTSTART:20250421T201000Z
DTEND:20250421T212000Z
SUMMARY:RABLS Talk - Betsy Martinez-Vaz, Professor of 
 Biology and the Co-Director of the Biochemistry 
 Program at Hamline University
ORGANIZER;CN="Biology RABLS Talk":
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DESCRIPTION:
 Professor Betsy Martinez-Vaz will give a talk 
 titled "Drug Eating Microbes: Wastewater Bacteria 
 Degrade Top Diabetes Drug".\n
 \n
 In many nations around the world, including the 
 United States, metformin is the drug most frequently 
 prescribed for type 2 diabetes. This medication 
 has been demonstrated to alter the gut microbiome 
 in diabetic patients, improving glucose metabolism. 
 More recently, metformin has been touted as having 
 antiviral and anti-aging properties, making it 
 a possible treatment option for other medical 
 conditions. Humans do not fully metabolize metformin, 
 and its alleged "dead-end" product, guanylurea, 
 enters municipal wastewater where it cannot be 
 removed using traditional water treatment techniques. 
 These substances are currently regarded as emerging 
 pollutants after being found in surface waters 
 all over the world. In this study, two distinct 
 bacteria that can use metformin as their only 
 source of carbon or nitrogen for growth were isolated 
 and characterized. The metabolic intermediates 
 and enzymes involved in the breakdown of metformin 
 were identified using a variety of biochemical 
 and genomic analyses. The results show that metformin 
 is fully metabolized to carbon dioxide and ammonia 
 through a pathway involving five different enzymes 
 as well as guanylurea and guanidine intermediates. 
 Evidence from genomic and bioinformatic analyses 
 suggests that genes encoding metformin-degrading 
 enzymes may be transferred among bacteria in wastewater 
 and soil environments.\n
 These findings have the potential to lead to the 
 development of practical biotechnological applications 
 to improve water treatment processes.\n\n

LOCATION:Wriston Auditorium
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