ARKHANGELSK, May 5. /TASS/. Participants in the Arctic Floating University in 2022 will study for the first time Arctic microorganisms with the purpose of making new antibiotics and enzymes, which may be used in the food industry, the expedition’s leader, Director of the Institute for Strategic Development of the Arctic at the Northern Arctic Federal University, Alexander Saburov told TASS.
Presently, the organizers have finalized the list of participants and the expedition’s scientific program, he said.
"Microbiological studies will be developed this year. <...> In particular, specialists and students of MGU (the Moscow State University), the Institute of Experimental Medicine, SAFU (the Northern Arctic Federal University) and RUDN (the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia) will study microorganisms to develop new antibacterial drugs. The scientists will look for microorganisms that live in the Arctic, which are cold-resistant or psychrophilic, and which have not been studied previously," the expedition’s leader said. "These microorganisms also secrete many enzymes that can be used in the food industry, for example, in dairy."
The potential of using polar bacteria in medicine is very high, because they can survive in extreme conditions, he continued. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized antibiotic resistance as the cause of the modern medicine’s crisis and proposed the Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance. We know two fundamentally different strategies to find new antibiotics: the search for antibiotics among "uncultivated" bacteria, and the creation of fundamentally new artificial antibiotic molecules, the expert said. Both strategies have been productive. More than 90% of all bacterial species, found in the external environment, are the bacteria, which are uncultivated under normal laboratory conditions.
Another microbiology project will focus on Arctic bacteriophages, i.e. viruses, which can kill bacteria. This is another promising direction in creating new substances against infections.
Adaptation to the Arctic
This year, for the first time, scientists will study sleep disorders and anxiety disorders during expeditions to the Arctic. "For the first time in the expedition, a psychiatrist from the Arkhangelsk Clinical Psychiatric Hospital will work to study adaptation of the human body <...>. For the first time, he will study sleep disorders and the level of anxiety-depressive reactions as factors of human adaptation to certain conditions, including climatic adaptation to the conditions of the Russian Federation’s Arctic Zone. At the same time, he will compare the reactions of those who have already been to the Arctic with reactions of those who will travel to the Arctic for the first time," the expedition leader’s deputy Anna Trofimova told TASS.
The expedition’s scientific program has seven main areas: human adaptation to the Arctic, studies of historical and cultural heritage objects, pollution research, studies of Arctic microorganisms, observations of seabirds and mammals, studies of biological resources and biodiversity, and hydrometeorological monitoring. The expedition will take place from June 24 through to July 11 in the White, Barents and Kara Seas. The scientists and students will land on the Kolguyev and the Vaygach islands, as well as at different locations on the coast of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago. The organizers have received 182 applications from 63 scientific and scientific-educational organizations. A team of 55 people from 15 organizations from Arkhangelsk, Moscow, Norilsk, Saratov, St. Petersburg and Dubna will go on the expedition.
The Pomors’ heritage
For the first time during this expedition, the head of the department for preservation of historical and cultural heritage at the Russian Arctic National Park, Evgeny Yermolov, will explore the ancient Pomors’ settlements on the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago. Structures or buildings on the coast have been seen on images from the space. However, nobody can say yet what those buildings are like.
"On the space images, we can see that on the coast of Ivanov Bay in Murmanets Bay there are some buildings. <…> Most likely, those are houses of fishers. In Murmanets Bay, on the Gemskerk Island, still exists a walrus rookery. The Snezhnaya River runs into Ivanov Bay, and nearby are the Chayachyi and Gagaryi lakes, in which, most probably, used to be and still lives Arctic char," the historian told TASS.
The specialist also hopes that from the Bolshoy Vostochny Oransky Island the expedition will manage to take to Arkhangelsk an old Pomor ship, which was discovered there in 2016. The transportation mission will depend greatly on weather conditions. "We hope, this year we’ll manage to study and transport the ship, which will be another exhibit in the Arkhangelsk park, where visitors will see a sample of the Pomors’ shipbuilding skills," the expedition leader added.
10 years of Floating University
The Arctic Floating University is a joint project of the Northern Arctic Federal University (SAFU) and the Northern Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring. The expedition will take place onboard the Professor Molchanov scientific expedition vessel. Two expeditions are planned for 2022. The second expedition will explore the Franz Josef Land Archipelago. "The first expedition will be held within the framework of Russia's chairmanship in the Arctic Council with the support from the Russian Geographical Society, VTB, Novatek, Norilsk Nickel. The second expedition’s partner is Rosneft," the expedition’s leader added.