MAREX: Exploring marine natural products for novel bioactive compounds

Biodiversity defines the variability among all living organisms, including marine ecosystems and their ecological complexes. Oceans are considered a rich source of biological and chemical diversity. Through co-operation between 19 industrial and academic partners, EU FP7-funded project MAREX focuses on collecting and classifying marine organisms, such as micro- and macroalgae, sea anemones, tunicates and fish from Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean, Baltic and Arabian Seas. Extracts and purified compounds of these organisms are studied for biological activities with potential therapeutic and industrial use, including anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antiviral. Chromatographic isolation of bioactive compounds will be followed by structural determination. Sustainable cultivation methods for promising organisms and biotechnological processes for selected compounds will be developed. So far, our laboratory has screened over 500 samples against diverse microbial strains and 17 of them showed potential antimicrobial activity. MAREX also aims at better understanding of environmentally conscious sourcing of marine natural products and increased public awareness of marine biodiversity and potential. Finally, MAREX is expected to offer novel marine-based lead compounds for industries related to pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, agrochemical, food processing and biosensor applications.