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Abstract: The ocean, including its coastal areas and covering more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, has always represented an important environmental and economic resource. Indeed, almost 40% of the global population lives in coastal communities (United Nations, 2017). With its ecosystem services, the ocean represents a pivotal role in human society (Rayner et al., 2019). Undeniably, the ocean provides food, regulates the climate, provides oxygen and ensures economic resources through its shipping routes and tourism opportunities. Additionally, the ocean is home to organisms that have for centuries sparked the scientific interest of many research groups to uncover the biodiversity and functions of these fascinating marine ecosystems. Through their biological and chemical diversity, marine organisms synthesize unique secondary metabolites, biopolymers and enzymes produced in response to environmental stimuli. Secondary metabolites play important biological roles in improving competitiveness, providing chemical defence against predators or competitors and facilitating reproductive processes (Rotter et al.). Screening of these natural products and their producer organisms, coupled with the search of their unique biological activities that could be used in various industries, is tackled within marine (blue) biotechnology. Marine organisms and microorganisms can be investigated, and their primary and secondary metabolites, biopolymers and enzymes can be used as lead agents for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries to improve processes (e.g., in drug delivery) and as a source of bio-inspired materials for numerous biotechnological applications. Although this field has been appearing since the 1960s and 1970s, it is still considered an emerging field and marine biotechnology is still in its infancy (Rayner et al., 2019; Rotter et al.). This is because many marine environments are extreme ones that are either hardly accessible for sampling and harvesting and/or are home to organisms that cannot be cultured or grown in laboratory conditions. Consequently, a lot of advancement in the field of marine biotechnology was hampered until recent advances in science were achieved, including sampling methods, high-throughput methods and transdisciplinary collaborations.
Keywords: blue biotechnology, marine biotechnology, ocean bioprospecting, marine organisms
Published in DiRROS: 06.08.2024; Views: 161; Downloads: 95
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