31 2010
Scripps researchers win race to synthesize marine natural product Palau’amine
The compound Palau’amine, discovered in 1993, is so chemically complex that finding a way to produce it in the laboratory became the most hotly pursued synthetic chemistry goal in modern history. Groups around the globe dedicated millions to the challenge, but it is a team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute that has finally completed the quest.
31 2010
Collaboraton working with deep sea microorganisms for agriculture solutions
Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (MBI), is collaborating with the laboratories of research microbiologist Dr. Paul Jensen and Professor William Fenical at the University of California at San Diego, Scripps Institute, to find deep sea microorganisms with potential applications for pest management. UC’s Industry University Cooperative Research Program (IUCRP) awarded Dr. Jensen’s Lab a Discovery Grant for the joint project.
Dr. Jensen’s lab collaborates with the lab of Dr. William Fenical who is internationally recognized for significant discoveries of new pharmaceutical compounds from naturally occurring marine microorganisms. MBI is also developing a novel marine microorganism discovered by Dupont and Biomar, S.A. for use as a rice herbicide.
28 2010
Federal stimulus dollars go to cooperative group targeting discovery of marine-derived anticancer leads
The overall goal of the National Cooperative Drug Discovery Group (NCDDG) program is to discover marine natural product leads for cancer chemotherapy. There are four laboratory programs operating in a close and synergistic fashion as follows:
- Lab Program #1 led by Prof. Phillip Crews (PI of this NCDDG), University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC)
- Lab Program #2 led by Prof. William Gerwick, Oregon State University (OSU)
- Lab Program #3 led by Dr. Amy Wright, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI)
- Lab Program #4 led by Prof. William Fenical, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego (SIO-UCSD).
| Amount of Award: | $273,147 |
| Award Date: | 09/25/2009 |
28 2010
US West Coast Companies Partner to Produce Biochemicals from Microalgae
Under a new partnership, Seattle-based Blue Marble Energy Corp. will produce its biochemicals using a supply of microalgae from algae producer Bionavitas, Redmond, Washington.
01 2009
Researchers Survey Mid-Atlantic Ridge Looking For New Forms of Marine Life, Clues to Deep-Sea Communities
An international team of researchers is surveying the Mid-Atlantic Ridge halfway between Iceland and the Azores to determine its biodiversity and perhaps discover new species and clues to deep-sea food webs. The project is part of a 16-nation effort to determine if the underwater mountain chain in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean has its own distinct animal communities.
Led by NOAA researcher Mike Vecchione of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), headquartered in Woods Hole, Mass., the research team is working aboard the 208-foot NOAA ship Henry B. Bigelow for six weeks as part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Ecosystem Project, or MAR-ECO. The cruise is funded by NOAA Fisheries Service with additional support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
11 2009
China’s first flow production line for the comprehensive processing of fish scales put into use in Shanghai
China’s first flow production line for the comprehensive processing of fish scales, developed by Shanghai Fisheries Research Institute, was put into use. This line can “eat up” 40-50 tons per month of residual fish scales from aquatic products processing operations and turn out a series of highly value-added processed products, such as collagen protein, gelatin, animal feeds. The technology is internationally advanced and capable of being industrialized. It was estimated that the line will generate an economic benefit of 25 thousand RMB yuan from every ton of fish scales.
Excerpted and translated from China Ocean Newspaper dated June, 20th, 2008, by Haiping Zhang.
11 2008
Scripps, JGI Sequence Marine Bacterium S. tropica
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography have sequenced the genome of a marine bacterium that could play a role in fighting cancer, Scripps reported recently.
In collaboration between Scripps and the Joint Genome Institute, the scientists sequenced the genome of Salinispora tropica. The results were released this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scripps said this Salinispora makes compounds that may treat cancers, including the compound salinosporamide A, which is currently in human clinical trials as a potential therapy for bone marrow cancer conducted by Nereus Pharmaceuticals.
The sequence also showed that 10 percent of the genome is “dedicated to producing molecules” that may be used for antibiotics and anticancer agents, while similar bacteria have only around six to eight percent of their genomes offering such molecules, Scripps said.The sequence may enable the researchers “to look in greater detail at this organism and potentially pull out some of the other compounds from the gene clusters that may make highly potent anticancer agents,” Scripps Researcher Bradley Moore said in a statement.
Scripps reports that it originally found the bacterium in mud in the Bahamas.
11 2008
Marine Biotech Company GlycoMar Developing New In House Screening Services
OBAN life science company GlycoMar Ltd has recently announced an additional service has been introduced at its in
house screening facility. GlycoMar Managing Director Dr Charlie Bavington set up the Company in 2005, to exploit the potential of sugar-based compounds derived from marine invertebrates. GlycoMar has continued to expand its commercial success since 2005, when it made the headlines by extracting chemicals from starfish slime to combat allergies such as hay fever.
Dr Bavington said ”The addition of further screening assays is part of our on going strategy to develop the screening facility. This will allow us to increase income and provide vital capabilities for our own drug discovery program. The introduction of anti-oxidant assays compliments our already established anti-inflammatory screens.”
GlycoMar’s newly introduced assay is used to screen compounds for their ability to inhibit ROS/RNS production, so acting as an antioxidant and blocking downstream inflammatory events. The assay is a fully quantitative assay offering low – medium throughput. GlycoMar is also developing an in house mixed lymphocyte assay which will be commercially available early 2008.
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