The aims of the Course are to provide the basic knowledge, the logic of life and the biological characteristics of the representatives of the first great evolutionary leap in the history of living, protists, and provide an overview of major biotechnologies applied to one of the more sophisticated and complex investigation tools in their dual nature of eukaryotic cell and individual. The course will cover topics such as, protists capable of producing molecules difficult to be synthesized, use of protists as bio-indicators of different types of habitat, protists in the processes of biological treatment of domestic and industrial sewage, algal production systems as a source of products and substances useful in the field of pharmacology, cosmetics and nutrition.