16 2010
Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announces establishment of Marine and Extreme Biosource Collection and Marine Biotechnology Research Center
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announced that it established Marine and Extreme Biosource Collection and Marine Biotechnology Research Center provide information to domestic and foreign researchers.
The organizations were established by one of the Studies on Molecular Genomics of Marine and Extreme Organisms launched by the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute in 2004 and have information on marine and extreme organisms found in Pacific hydrothermal vents and cold seep communities, and Artic and subtropical areas.
The Marine and Extreme Biosource Collection (MEBiC) (www.megrc.re.kr/mebic) preserves and manages 5 divisions, 9 classes, 24 orders, 72 families and 233 genera of domestic and foreign marine microorganisms, and among them, NA1, is now being utilized to develop bio-hydrogen production technology, which will bring enormous economic benefits if successful.
Furthermore, the Marine Biotechnology Research Center (http://mbrc.kordi.re.kr/gbank), was established to integrate and manage genomic information on marine organisms of the Collection and provide genomic information on 417 marine organisms, about 10% of gene decoding research.
07 2010
New Network of Northern Germany Marine Biotechnology Firms and Researchers
On June 15, 2010, at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR), 20 research teams and companies in the marine biotechnology sector have signed an agreement on the creation of the North German Network of marine biotechnology – focused on active substances and materials from marine sources, including microorganisms.
The material from the sea may have applications as varied as drugs from marine bacteria, algae-based cosmetics or pesticides from environmental marine sponges. Johannes Imhoff, Director of the Center for Active Substances in the IFM-GEOMAR ( KiWiZ ), is the initiator of this agreement. “We want to create a professional network and innovative research that stimulates the strength of competitiveness and innovation of marine biotechnology in northern Germany”, he explains.
The 20 partners of the network come from Mecklenburg -Western Pomerania, Schleswig -Holstein and Hamburg. The network’s activities focus on products derived from marine organisms that may have applications in medicine and healthcare technologies, plant protection, health, industrial biotechnology, cosmetic and food industries.
06 2010
Sponge Genome Reveals Animal, Cancer Origins
In a paper appearing in the recent issue of the journal Nature, a team of researchers led by Daniel Rokhsar of the Univ. of California, Berkeley, and the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI), report the draft genome sequence of the sea sponge Amphimedon queenslandica and several insights the genome gives into the origins of both the first animals and cancer.
“Our hypothesis is that multicellularity and cancer are two sides of the same coin,” says Rokhsar, professor at UC Berkeley. “If you are a cell in a multicellular organism, you have to cooperate with other cells in your body, making sure that you divide when you are supposed to as part of the team. The genes that regulate this cooperation are also the ones whose disruption can cause cells to behave selfishly and grow in uncontrolled ways to the detriment of the organism.”
As part of the new analysis, the team looked in the sponge genome for more than 100 genes that have been implicated in human cancers and found about 90 percent of them. Future research will show what roles these genes play in endowing sponge cells with team spirit.
04 2010
5th International Conference on Marine Bioprospecting in Tromso; 23-25th February 2011
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.
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.
A number of interesting speakers from the USA, Russia, UK, Denmark, Switzerland and Norway have been invited. In addition there will be a half day pre-conference workshop: ‘Addressing industrial applications’ on 23 February 2011
Delegates are invited to participate with poster presentations, and a number of posters will be selected for oral presentation.
04 2010
MDPI Office of the Publisher announces publication of new Marine Drugs issue
MDPI announces publication of the following issue: Mar.
Drugs, Volume 8, Issue 7 (July 2010), Pages 1962-2222 at
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/
Table of Contents:
Jiali Zhang, Wenshui Xia, Ping Liu, Qinyuan Cheng, Talba Tahi, Wenxiu Gu
and Bo Li
Review: Chitosan Modification and Pharmaceutical/Biomedical Applications
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 1962-1987; doi:10.3390/md8071962
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/1962
Feisal Khoushab and Montarop Yamabhai
Review: Chitin Research Revisited
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 1988-2012; doi:10.3390/md8071988
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/1988
Sandra Anne Banack and Paul Alan Cox
Correction: Correction: Banack, S.A. et al. Production of the Neurotoxin
BMAA by a Marine Cyanobacterium. Mar. Drugs 2007, 5, 180–196
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2013; doi:10.3390/md8072013
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2013
Chih-Yang Liu, Tsong-Long Hwang, Mei-Ru Lin, Yung-Husan Chen, Yu-Chia
Chang, Lee-Shing Fang, Wei-Hsien Wang, Yang-Chang Wu and Ping-Jyun Sung
Article: Carijoside A, a Bioactive Sterol Glycoside from an Octocoral
Carijoa sp. (Clavulariidae)
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2014-2020; doi:10.3390/md8072014
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2014
Vítor Ramos and Vítor Vasconcelos
Review: Palytoxin and Analogs: Biological and Ecological Effects
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2021-2037; doi:10.3390/md8072021
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2021
Laurie O’Sullivan, Brian Murphy, Peter McLoughlin, Patrick Duggan,
Peadar G. Lawlor, Helen Hughes and Gillian E. Gardiner
Review: Prebiotics from Marine Macroalgae for Human and Animal Health
Applications
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2038-2064; doi:10.3390/md8072038
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2038
Guoliang Wang, Ge Zhao, Yanbin Feng, Jinsong Xuan, Jianwei Sun, Baotai
Guo, Guoyong Jiang, Manli Weng, Jianting Yao, Bin Wang, Delin Duan and Tao
Liu
Article: Cloning and Comparative Studies of Seaweed Trehalose-6-Phosphate
Synthase Genes
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2065-2079; doi:10.3390/md8072065
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2065
Graziano Guella, Danielle Skropeta, Graziano Di Giuseppe and Fernando Dini
Review: Structures, Biological Activities and Phylogenetic Relationships
of Terpenoids from Marine Ciliates of the Genus Euplotes
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2080-2116; doi:10.3390/md8072080
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2080
Ratih Pangestuti and Se-Kwon Kim
Review: Neuroprotective Properties of Chitosan and Its Derivatives
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2117-2128; doi:10.3390/md8072117
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2117
Scharri J. Ezell, Haibo Li, Hongxia Xu, Xiangrong Zhang, Evrim Gurpinar,
Xu Zhang, Elizabeth R. Rayburn, Charnell I. Sommers, Xinyi Yang,
Sadanandan E. Velu, Wei Wang and Ruiwen Zhang
Article: Preclinical Pharmacology of BA-TPQ, a Novel Synthetic
Iminoquinone Anticancer Agent
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2129-2141; doi:10.3390/md8072129
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2129
Hedi Indra Januar, Ekowati Chasanah, Cherie A. Motti, Dianne M. Tapiolas,
Catherine H. Liptrot and Anthony D. Wright
Article: Cytotoxic Cembranes from Indonesian Specimens of the Soft Coral
Nephthea sp.
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2142-2152; doi:10.3390/md8072142
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2142
Robert J. French, Doju Yoshikami, Michael F. Sheets and Baldomero M.
Olivera
Review: The Tetrodotoxin Receptor of Voltage-Gated Sodium
Channels—Perspectives from Interactions with μ-Conotoxins
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2153-2161; doi:10.3390/md8072153
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2153
Fernando Scala, Ernesto Fattorusso, Marialuisa Menna, Orazio
Taglialatela-Scafati, Michelle Tierney, Marcel Kaiser and Deniz Tasdemir
Article: Bromopyrrole Alkaloids as Lead Compounds against Protozoan
Parasites
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2162-2174; doi:10.3390/md8072162
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2162
Anne-Laure Deniau, Paul Mosset, Frédérique Pédrono, Romain Mitre,
Damien Le Bot and Alain B. Legrand
Review: Multiple Beneficial Health Effects of Natural Alkylglycerols from
Shark Liver Oil
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2175-2184; doi:10.3390/md8072175
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2175
Maria Wiese, Paul M. D’Agostino, Troco K. Mihali, Michelle C. Moffitt
and Brett A. Neilan
Review: Neurotoxic Alkaloids: Saxitoxin and Its Analogs
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2185-2211; doi:10.3390/md8072185
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2185
Liang Guo, Guang Liu, Ruo-Yu Hong and Hong-Zhong Li
Article: Preparation and Characterization of Chitosan Poly(acrylic acid)
Magnetic Microspheres
Mar. Drugs 2010, 8(7), 2212-2222; doi:10.3390/md8072212
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/8/7/2212
04 2010
CMP Therapeutics Appoints Dr Neill Moray Mackenzie as CEO
CMP Therapeutics announces the appointment of Dr Neill Moray Mackenzie to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Dr Mackenzie brings to CMPT a long record of executive board level management within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries at companies including Cambridge Genetics Ltd, Oxford Biomedica plc (an LSE listed company), Avidex Ltd (now Immunocore) and most recently as the SVP for Business Development and Corporate Strategy at Medigene AG (a Borse-listed company) and CEO of Roji Ltd (London). In addition, Dr MacKenzie was formerly a Departmental Head in Vaccine R&D at Wellcome and a Wellcome Lecturer in Immunology at the University of London.
CMPT also announces the injection of a EUR1.5million convertible loan from Inventages Venture Capital to support continuing operations and the upcoming clinical trial of its lead product for the common cold. CMPT has been supported solely by investments from London-based Inventages Venture Capital and New Zealand-based BioPacificVentures since 2005.
CMP Therapeutics, founded in 2004, is a company that develops products for colds, flu and allergy based on b 1-3 N-acetyl glucosamine (chitin). b 1-3 N-acetyl glucosamine is extracted from natural sources. It is processed into micro-particles (Chitin Micro-Particles or CMP) under GMP manufacturing conditions. CMP is the active component. When administered intranasally it has been shown to be safe in man and effective in models of disease, including viral disease and bacterial diseases of the respiratory tract and allergy. CMP Therapeutics has worldwide patents and patent applications covering the uses and the manufacture of CMP for allergy, viral and bacterial disease, and as a vaccine adjuvant.
22 2010
Researchers worry that damage to the oceans could mean some species — and whatever chemicals they produce — will be lost before they’re found
Marc 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.”
22 2010
MDPI Publishes New Marine Drugs Issue: Volume 8, Issue 6
MDPI 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
22 2010
Aquapharm and AMRI Enter Into a Novel Marine Chemistry Collaboration
Aquapharm 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.
22 2010
5th International Conference on Marine Bioprospecting, Tromso, Norway
23-25th 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.
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