Looking for new medicines in the ocean
The ocean and its vast biodiversity is a good place to look for new medicines, with more than 20 marine natural product medicines having been approved to date! NOAA expeditions are exploring the Deepwater Habitats off Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for Biotechnology Potential. One of these expeditions by Kirstie Tandberg Francis (Mote Marine Laboratory) is culturing the sponge microbiome for natural product discovery. Kirstie is isolating microbes such as bacteria and fungi, from sponges that exist deep in the water in low light levels.
Marine invertebrates such as sea sponges and molluscs are rich sources of unique natural products, sometimes these natural products are produced by microbes within the invertebrate’s microbiome rather than by the invertebrate itself. A good example of this is halichondrin B, a natural product that was originally isolated from Halichondria okadai, commonly known as the breadcrumb sponge. Halichondrin B is now used to treat cancer under the brand name Halaven, it’s currently believed that it is produced by the breadcrumb sponge’s microbiome.
This researcher's goal is to expand the microbial libraries so that the microbes can be screened for bioactivity i.e., what their effects are on living matter and therefore potential drug discovery.
MARBLES is also identifying microbes and their bioactive compounds with antimicrobial properties that could be used as bioprotectants in aquaculture and agriculture as well as potential human health applications. MARBLES also aims to improve screening regimes and develop formulations for sustainable commercial exploitation of novel bioactive compounds.