AQUACULTURE OF BIOMEDICAL SPECIES

The potential for overexploitation of marine biomedical species has led Harbor Branch researchers to initiate the Center for Sustainable Use of Marine Resources. Recent biotechnology and ocean exploration research has identified several new marine species that contain biomedically active compounds, which have been shown to be medically applicable for treatment of cancer. Marine species, such as sponges, soft corals, tunicates, and bryozoans, have been harvested and key compounds have been extracted from them for medical and cosmetic uses, such as the treatment of cancer, infectious diseases, inflammation, and enhancing immune response. The Center for Sustainable Use of Marine Resources, a collaborative research program involving the Biomedical Marine Research and Aquaculture Divisions at Harbor Branch, is combining the existing expertise in marine biotechnology and drug discovery research with the latest advances in aquaculture, cell culture, microbiology, fermentation, and recombinant production technologies to develop the methods to produce commercial quantities of biomedically important marine organisms.