2022 SOST Opportunities and Actions Roundtable Submissions
Summary:
Our group has been developing a new green technology we call pharmaceutical aquaculture. This endeavor has been molded for over twenty years. Marine bacteria can defend themselves using a chemical defense system against marine viruses, other bacteria, archaea, etc. in the ocean. Marine bacteria are difficult or impossible to grow in a lab setting, presumably due to the complexity of the chemical, physical and biological aspects of the ocean. We adapted by developing a method to grow and harvest bacteria in the ocean. We have focused on the production of bryostatin, a marine natural product that has efficacy against different types of cancer, Alzheimer’s, HIV and MS. Its cost remains extremely high, has low availability and has a fascinating history (1-4). The goal is a flexible approach that can be used to synthesize known marine natural products and to discovery new ones using the principals of green technology.
- https://cen.acs.org/articles/89/i43/BryostatinsTale.html
- https://www.eurekaselect.com/article/105477
- https://www.thejot.net/article-preview/?show_article_preview=1296 (Pharmaceutical Aquaculture in the Marine Environment: A Green Technology Approach to Synthesis and Discovery by Manning et al., 2022)
- http://www.gulfspecimen.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/hidden_treasure.pdf
Sector: Academia
Organization: Valdosta State University
POC: Thomas Manning, tmanning@valdosta.edu