Now that promise is being fulfilled and Britain’s ‘blue biotech’ industry - as it is known in research and development circles - is at the forefront of this ground-breaking emerging science.

Currently, British expertise in this field encompasses everything from vaccine development, disease detection agents, host pathogen interactions, and general bacteriology to developing systems for monitoring ocean or river pollution. Across the UK as a whole there are more than 50 marine research institutes and university departments, and most have a tradition of industrial collaboration and commercial enterprise - although their definitions of ‘marine biotechnology’ can vary from organisation to organisation.

The possibilities for the future are huge because, compared to some fields, we are still in our infancy

Dr Sohail Ali

Biotechnologist

Plymouth Marine Laboratory

A recent report prepared for the UK government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) defined the term ‘marine biotechnology’ most simply as: ‘The exploration of the capabilities of marine organisms, at the whole, cell, or molecular level, to provide solutions to today's problems and those of tomorrow.

A nascent sector

Marine research may be a relatively young sector, but in the UK it is moving ahead at rapid speed and playing a major role in the development of future healthcare innovations. In Plymouth alone, there are seven world-leading marine science and technology organisations: Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth University’s Marine Institute, the Marine Biological Association of the UK, the National Marine Aquarium, the Diving Diseases Research Centre, the Navy’s Hydrographic, Meteorological & Oceanographic Training Group and the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Sciences.

UK – cutting-edge research

Dr Sohail Ali is a biotechnologist from multidisciplinary marine research centre Plymouth Marine Laboratory, which – among its other work - has successfully isolated and characterised hundreds of novel strains of marine bacteria which could be invaluable in the drug discovery process within disease areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, ageing, obesity and diabetes. Dr Ali says: “We now have much better access to the marine environment - and therefore a much better understanding of it - than ever before. The possibilities for the future are huge because, compared to some fields, we are still in our infancy.

Our customer base now includes everyone from vets and fish farmers to research scientists and pharmaceutical companies

Professor Alexandra Adams

Chief Executive

Aquatic Diagnostics

“When you consider the amount of manpower and technology developed around, say, the Human Genome Project then ‘blue biotech’ is at the tip of the iceberg. What’s clear is that people are making real in-roads into some amazing opportunities. These are interesting times.”

For instance, Aquapharm Biodiscovery – based at the European Centre for Marine Biotechnology, in Oban, Argyll – specialises in the discovery, isolation and culture of marine microbes from the UK coastline and beyond. The aim: to develop antibiotics that target Gram-positive and negative multi-drug resistant infections.

Assistance through funding

In 2007, a consortium led by Aquapharm Biodiscovery won £489,000 of government funding to search for novel anti-cancer agents derived from marine microbes. Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg, founder and CEO of the company, said: ‘This programme represents an exciting opportunity to tap into the great microbial diversity of the marine environment and to help develop novel approaches and candidates in the fight against key cancer targets prevalent in today's society.” In 2007, Aquapharm announced that it planned to develop at least two novel anti-cancer conjugates - with demonstrated therapeutic value based upon clinical in-vitro and in-vivo efficacy - over the course of three years.

Benefits for many industries

Breakthroughs in marine biotechnology benefit many industries. Professor Alexandra Adams is Chief Executive of Aquatic Diagnostics, a spin-out company from the University of Stirling's Institute of Aquaculture (which retains a research lab at the University for academic purposes). At the Institute, Professor Adams and her team initially made monoclonal antibodies for research scientists for use in fish health management. She says: “After interest from other quarters, we realised this idea had commercial potential, so we set up a company in 2001.

Our customer base now includes everyone from vets and fish farmers to research scientists and pharmaceutical companies. Our focus is on aquatic organisms and immunodiagnostics, using antibodies to detect pathogens in fish or shrimp to see how they respond to infection. This is an area where we can help companies develop new vaccines. So interest in what we do comes from all different groups of people.”

A wealth of uses

This is an exciting time to be involved in the UK ‘blue biotech’ field say the scientists involved. Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg, from Aquapharm, highlights the advances made by his company over the past three years in the areas of anti-infective development and novel ingredients for functional foods and cosmeceuticals. “It is another confirmation,” he says, “of the potential economic benefits that marine biotechnology holds for the development of new innovative natural products for the wellness of all of us.”