"Marine Biodiscovery"
Research Measure: Discovery Research Measure
Funding Type: Beaufort Marine Research Awards
Funding Year: 2007
Project Duration: 7 Years
Project Type: Capacity Building
Total Grant-Aid: €7.23m
Research Groups:
- Research Institute & Microbiology Dept., University College Cork
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast
- Martin Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway
Project Summary
The overall aim of the Marine Biodiscovery Project is to sample and assess marine biological diversity within the Irish Exclusive Economic Zones with a view to extracting, identifying and developing natural products for application in areas such as drug discovery, functional food ingredients and materials of commercial application in the fields of bio-medical and nutritional science and devices. A key element of the work programme is the creation of a national interdisciplinary network of researchers working on the taxonomy, systematics and genetics of selected marine organisms and the development of analytical, culture, extraction techniques and screening processes for biochemical compounds with potential commercial application.
The work also includes the development of an operational data management system that will facilitate data processing and archival of information at all levels. The programme will make a major contribution to develop national capacity in marine biodiscovery through strengthening and linking a network of laboratories and collaborative teams based at NUIG, UCC and QUB. It will also support existing research work and capacity being developed in these areas as well as collaboration with other national and international partners.
Key Objectives:
- Create a strong interdisciplinary research capacity in NUIG, UCC and QUB in the utilisation of marine biodiversity, through application of novel high-throughput techniques in the development of drugs, therapies and nano-bio materials;
- Develop core research expertise and capacity in the sampling, taxonomy, processing and preservation of marine organisms for biodiscovery research;
- Develop applied research capabilities for the isolation and identification of novel marine bioactive chemical compounds (e.g. adhesives, biofilms and sensors) for use in medical device industry and in chemogenomics and bioinformatics;
- Develop an integrated management system for data collection, tracking and archival of biochemical and microbiological products/compounds extracted from marine organisms;
- Support opportunities for further national and international scientific collaboration and attract additional research funding through partnerships with other agencies, institutions and industry; and
- Promote Ireland as a leader and respected international partner in marine biodiscovery research using applied biochemical and microbiological processes to develop high value marine nutritional, biomedical and bioactive products.
Further details on Work Package (PDF, 177KB) details are available along with additional project information.