Sponges hold the key to marine biotech products

Sponges and other marine invertebrates and their associated microorganisms can provide an inexhaustible source of bioactive compounds with biomedical applications. Successful industrial exploitation of this natural resource is ensured by beginning with the genes that encode the bioproducts, or the pathways that synthesise them. This ensures that the active molecules are obtained in sufficient quantities.

The EU-funded BLUEGENICS project combined knowledge of marine genomics and advanced chemistry to produce novel compounds, which include secondary metabolites and pharmaceutically active compounds. The aim is to bring these compounds to pre-clinical and clinical studies.

BLUEGENICS is driven by high-tech genomics-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are dedicated to bringing to market marine biotechnology-derived products. Considerable progress has already been made, including new extracts of marine sponges and other marine organisms. These are now being screened to identify anti-kinase activities as well as anti-Alzheimer microbial and antimicrobial activities. The first products that are close to the market are medical skin repair strips (innovative nanoparticles, encapsulating bioactive natural compounds into morphogenetically active, natural polymers).

A screening platform for anti-protozoan activity has also been established, identifying a simplified analogue of the antibiotic plakortin. The analogue shows antimicrobial properties against cloroquine-resistant compound strains of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

The success of the BLUEGENICS project will result in the creation of a durable, industry-driven, molecular biology-based marine drug discovery and production unit. The unit will enable sustainable exploitation of the ocean's molecular biodiversity and help ensure that European SME-based biotechnology leads the world.