Uncovering Fresh Insights: Investigation into New Developments
The Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine (CMBB) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography is making significant strides in the field of marine pharmaceuticals, with a focus on discovering new bioactive compounds and advancing biotechnological methods for sustainable drug production.
One of the key areas of interest for CMBB researchers is the development of novel anticancer compounds. Recent discoveries include polyketides and peptides sourced from marine microorganisms, which exhibit potent anticancer properties, such as inhibiting tumor cell growth, inducing apoptosis, and preventing metastasis.
In response to the growing concern of antibiotic resistance, CMBB researchers have also been characterizing unique antibiotics isolated from symbiotic marine bacteria. These new agents demonstrate broad-spectrum activity against multi-drug resistant pathogens, such as MRSA and VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci).
CMBB is also advancing research into marine natural products that modulate neurological pathways implicated in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Isolated marine alkaloids and terpenes have been shown to inhibit amyloid-beta aggregation and tau phosphorylation, offering hope for new therapeutic avenues in the fight against these debilitating conditions.
To overcome the challenge of low yield in harvesting bioactive marine compounds, CMBB is pioneering synthetic biology and metabolic engineering approaches. This includes engineering microbial hosts to produce complex marine natural products in scalable systems, as well as using CRISPR-based editing to enhance metabolite biosynthesis pathways.
In addition, CMBB researchers are focusing on marine-derived immunomodulators, with recent discoveries including marine polysaccharides and peptides that modulate immune responses, showing promise for autoimmune diseases and inflammatory disorders.
The CMBB's work not only expands the drug discovery pipeline but also addresses critical global health challenges such as cancer, antibiotic resistance, and neurodegenerative diseases.
The center's research also extends to the use of cutting-edge genomics and synthetic biology to explore marine biodiversity, as well as the development of new methods for biotechnology. This includes the use of culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques to explore the immense microbial diversity found in the world's oceans.
One of the latest technological advancements developed at Scripps is the ability to engineer the production of marine pharmaceuticals in laboratory-engineered microbial factories. A recent success story is the engineered production of the seaweed chemical kainic acid, which is used in brain research.
The CMBB's research encompasses a wide range of topics, including marine organisms, marine habitat conservation, environmental monitoring and remediation technologies, and pharmaceutical development from marine organisms. Their work is essential in unlocking the vast potential of the oceans for biomedical research and drug development.
- The focus on marine pharmaceuticals at the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine (CMBB) extends to the development of new anticancer compounds, as they continue to discover bioactive compounds from marine microorganisms that exhibit anticancer properties.
- In addressing the growing concern of antibiotic resistance, CMBB researchers are characterizing unique antibiotics isolated from symbiotic marine bacteria, demonstrating broad-spectrum activity against multi-drug resistant pathogens.
- The CMBB's research into marine natural products also includes modulating neurological pathways implicated in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, with isolated marine alkaloids and terpenes shown to inhibit amyloid-beta aggregation and tau phosphorylation.
- To overcome the challenge of low yield in harvesting bioactive marine compounds, CMBB is pioneering synthetic biology and metabolic engineering approaches, engineering microbial hosts to produce complex marine natural products in scalable systems.
- CMBB researchers are also focusing on marine-derived immunomodulators, with recent discoveries including marine polysaccharides and peptides that modulate immune responses, showing promise for autoimmune diseases and inflammatory disorders.
- The CMBB's work is not limited to health and wellness, but also encompasses the use of cutting-edge genomics and synthetic biology to explore marine biodiversity and the development of new methods for biotechnology.
- One of the latest technological advancements developed at Scripps is the ability to engineer the production of marine pharmaceuticals in laboratory-engineered microbial factories, as exemplified by the engineered production of the seaweed chemical kainic acid, used in brain research.
- The CMBB's research is essential in unlocking the vast potential of the oceans for not only biomedical research and drug development, but also in areas such as environmental science, space and astronomy, technology, education and self-development, career development, sports, travel, lifestyle, food and drink, climate change, and the environment.
