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Researchers worry that damage to the oceans could mean some species — and whatever chemicals they produce — will be lost before they’re found
Posted On: July 22, 2010Marc Slattery, a marine biologist by training, looks to sponges and coral as possible sources of drugs. As stationary species in the open ocean, these organisms have developed many chemical defenses to protect themselves. Slattery studies whether those chemicals could protect us, too. Maybe the same compounds that fend off fish could battle viruses, kill bacteria, and even fight cancer.
“These organisms are producing some nasty sorts of chemistry,” Slattery explains. “If you focus on the biotech side of things, there may be a drug in that” — or, he suspects, many.
After a long history of success on land, pharmacognosy — the search for substances in nature that have pharmaceutical potential — is finally getting its sea legs. Slattery, a pharmacognosy professor at the University of Mississippi, is one of the researchers scouring the oceans for cures.
Ocean acidification, warming water temperature and pollution all threaten sensitive corals and the symbiotic species that live on the reefs. Says Michael Lesser, a coral reef biologist at the University of New Hampshire who collaborates with Slattery, “We could lose something that could have great value to us as human beings, and not even know it.”
Neptune Technologies & Bioressources profits rise on krill oil success
Posted On: July 22, 2010Neptune Technologies & Bioressources has recorded continued profits in its first quarter, which the firm says is partly a result of a more widespread recognition of krill oil in the nutraceutical industry.
The Canadian firm reported a 45 percent increase in revenue for the three months ended May 31, 2010 compared to the same period last year. This boosted revenue to $4.2m for the period.
According to the company, the improved results were largely due to an investment in the firm’s manufacturing plant last year, which boosted production performance. However, the results also reflect an increased uptake of krill oil as a source of omega-3.
Shellfish Waste May Give Us “Vanishing Plastic”
Posted On: July 22, 2010Prototype biodegradable plastics are possibly just months away, spelling good news for the worsening headache of plastic packaging, which accounts for up to 25 per cent of municipal landfill.
Researchers at Swinburne University have been investigating the use of bioplastics – ingredients from renewable sources – and the properties of biopolymers that determine their ‘compostability’.
These projects have brought together PhD students, Suchetana Chattopadhyay and Cameron Way, who are examining the properties of plastics biopolymers as part of their PhD studies, under the supervision of Associate Professor Enzo Palombo.
Chattopadhyay is using a respirometer – a composting machine – to test novel, chitin-based polymers.
Chitin is the world’s second most abundant organic compound. It is mostly derived from shellfish waste, but also includes the exoskeletons of crustaceans, insects and spiders.
In collaboration with an industry partner, Chattopadhyay has provided the first direct evidence of true biodegradability in novel, chitin-based polymers.
Solazyme Delivers 100% Algal-Derived Renewable Jet Fuel to U.S. Navy
Posted On: July 22, 2010Solazyme, Inc. is helping the U.S. military move closer to powering its planes, ships, tanks and trucks on renewable fuel and has delivered of 1,500 gallons of 100% algae-based jet fuel for the U.S. Navy’s testing and certification program. The U.S. Navy has previously announced the objective to operate at least 50% of its fleet on clean, renewable fuel by 2020, and the delivery fulfills a contract awarded to Solazyme by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in September 2009.
Solazyme, a renewable oil and green bioproducts company and leader in algal biotechnology, manufactured the world’s first 100% algal-based jet fuel through its proprietary fermentation process in collaboration with renewable jet fuel processing technology from Honeywell’s UOP. Solazyme’s renewable Solajet(TM)HRJ-5 is designed to meet all of the requirements for Naval renewable aviation fuel. In preliminary tests, it also meets the fuel requirements of the U.S. Air Force and meets the standards for commercial jet fuel.
MDPI Publishes New Marine Drugs Issue: Volume 8, Issue 6
Posted On: July 22, 2010MDPI AG announce the publication of the following issue: Mar.
Drugs, Volume 8, Issue 6 (June 2010), Pages 1731-1961 at
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/
Table of Contents:
Sonia de Caralt, Javier Sánchez-Fontenla, María J. Uriz and Rene H.
Wijffels
Article: In Situ Aquaculture Methods for Dysidea avara (Demospongiae,
Porifera) in the Northwestern Mediterranean
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1731-1742; doi:10.3390/md8061731
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1731
Charles Santhanaraju Vairappan, Takahiro Ishii, Tan Kai Lee, Minoru Suzuki
and Zhan Zhaoqi
Article: Antibacterial Activities of a New Brominated Diterpene from
Borneon Laurencia spp.
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1743-1749; doi:10.3390/md8061743
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1743
Ruth Harris, Elena Lecumberri and Angeles Heras
Article: Chitosan-Genipin Microspheres for the Controlled Release of
Drugs: Clarithromycin, Tramadol and Heparin
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1750-1762; doi:10.3390/md8061750
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1750
João C. Fernandes, Humberto Spindola, Vanessa de Sousa, Alice
Santos-Silva, Manuela E. Pintado, Francisco Xavier Malcata and João E.
Carvalho
Communication: Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Chitooligosaccharides in Vivo
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1763-1768; doi:10.3390/md8061763
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1763
Xiaomei Wei, Tim S. Bugni, Mary Kay Harper, Imelda T. Sandoval, Elizabeth
J. Manos, Jennifer Swift, Ryan M. Van Wagoner, David A. Jones and Chris M.
Ireland
Article: Evaluation of Pyridoacridine Alkaloids in a Zebrafish Phenotypic
Assay
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1769-1778; doi:10.3390/md8061769
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1769
Annarita Poli, Gianluca Anzelmo and Barbara Nicolaus
Review: Bacterial Exopolysaccharides from Extreme Marine Habitats:
Production, Characterization and Biological Activities
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1779-1802; doi:10.3390/md8061779
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1779
Susan Matthew, Ranjala Ratnayake, Mikel A. Becerro, Raphael
Ritson-Williams, Valerie J. Paul and Hendrik Luesch
Article: Intramolecular Modulation of Serine Protease Inhibitor Activity
in a Marine Cyanobacterium with Antifeedant Properties
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1803-1816; doi:10.3390/md8061803
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1803
Li Liu and Kathleen S. Rein
Review: New Peptides Isolated from Lyngbya Species: A Review
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1817-1837; doi:10.3390/md8061817
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1817
Amandine Caillaud, Pablo de la Iglesia, H. Taiana Darius, Serge Pauillac,
Katerina Aligizaki, Santiago Fraga, Mireille Chinain and Jorge Diogène
Review: Update on Methodologies Available for Ciguatoxin Determination:
Perspectives to Confront the Onset of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning in Europe
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1838-1907; doi:10.3390/md8061838
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1838
Bárbara Frazão, Rosário Martins and Vitor Vasconcelos
Article: Are Known Cyanotoxins Involved in the Toxicity of Picoplanktonic
and Filamentous North Atlantic Marine Cyanobacteria?
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1908-1919; doi:10.3390/md8061908
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1908
Chen Zhang and Se-Kwon Kim
Review: Research and Application of Marine Microbial Enzymes: Status and
Prospects
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1920-1934; doi:10.3390/md8061920
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1920
Christine J. Band-Schmidt, José J. Bustillos-Guzmán, David J.
López-Cortés, Ismael Gárate-Lizárraga, Erick J. Núñez-Vázquez and
Francisco E. Hernández-Sandoval
Review: Ecological and Physiological Studies of Gymnodinium catenatum in
the Mexican Pacific: A Review
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(6), 1935-1961; doi:10.3390/md8061935
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/6/1935
Algal Biomass Summit Releases Meeting Agenda
Posted On: July 22, 2010The 2010 Algae Biomass Summit recently released the event’s newly-expanded agenda featuring more than 70 speakers and seven new sessions. The 4th annual event will be held September 28-30 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix, Arizona.
Aquapharm and AMRI Enter Into a Novel Marine Chemistry Collaboration
Posted On: July 22, 2010Aquapharm Biodiscovery, a leading marine biotechnology company, has signed a research agreement with Albany Molecular Research to identify novel drug-like compounds and scaffolds with anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory activity from Aquapharm’s marine natural products library derived from its extensive collection of marine micro-organisms.
Under the terms of this agreement, drawing on its substantial experience and expertise from previous screening campaigns with its terrestrial natural products library, AMRI will screen Aquapharm’s library against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and an undisclosed anti-inflammatory target and will isolate and elucidate the structures of novel hits. Aquapharm retains all rights to compounds resulting from the collaboration.
5th International Conference on Marine Bioprospecting, Tromso, Norway
Posted On: July 22, 201023-25th February 2011
Registration and preliminary program available in September
BIOPROSP is a leading international biennial conference series on bioprospecting from cold marine environments. These conferences aim to present explorative research and its industrial applications in an integrated fashion. On behalf of the Scientific Committee, you are invited to Tromsø and the BIOPROSP Conference 2011.
The focus in the 2011 conference will be industrial biotech and bioprospecting as a stepping stone towards the bioeconomy.
Target group: Academic and industry researchers, decision makers, regulatory experts, investors and public facilitators.
“Jelloware” Drinking Cups from Seaweed Extract
Posted On: July 19, 2010Design company The Way We See The World has developed “Jelloware” drinking cups made from agar agar, a seaweed extract.
From their website: ”Jelloware re-imagines the concept of drinking, and imparts a new experience in the way it feels, tastes, smells, moves, and is even disposed of. The cups are made entirely out of agar agar and cast in different flavors, such as lemon-basil, ginger-mint, or rosemary-beet, each specifically designed to compliment a corresponding drink. Jelloware is meant to be thrown into the grass after it is used, as agar agar is a seaweed extract and actually nurtures the growth of plants.”
Ongoing Project Aims to Recover Nutritional Value From Seafood and Brewing Waste
Posted On: July 19, 2010Preliminary findings from a UK government funded project focused on extracting value from seafood and beverage processing waste shows the process could potentially recover nutritional components such as glucosamine.
The process involves an ionic liquid (IL) extraction process which selectively recovers targeted high value components under mild conditions. Ionic Liquids are clean, inexpensive solvents whose properties can be tailored for recovery of specific target molecules. Recycling of recovered components for applications in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and chemical markets will deliver both economic and environmental benefits to technology adopters.
C-Tech Innovation, a UK based technology development company, is leading the three year EXCIL project that involves collaboration with key stakeholders including Heineken UK, seafood processor West Coast Sea Products, GlycoMar Ltd., the Sea Fish Industry Authority, waste management firm SITA UK and Imperial College London.
The research is being by funded by a UK government agency, the Technology Strategy Board, with the stated objective being to provide a new approach to solving the environmental and financial costs involved in disposal of food and brewing waste through a sustainable and resource efficient method.
EXCIL is a 3 year project which started in October 2009.
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