• Question: Do you know any scientists who have projects exploring the use of ocean plants or sea creatures for medicine?

    Asked by anon-258506 on 9 Jul 2020.
    • Photo: Ruth Patchett

      Ruth Patchett answered on 9 Jul 2020:

      Yes, we often look to mimicking nature. At Birmingham the School of medicine and chemistry have done a lot of researching a type of molecule called algiantes which are essentially a sugar molecule made by types of seaweed. They are what give seaweed their rubbery texture.
      One thing they are looking at is that some types of alginate will bind to iron and not other metals – this is useful as there is evidence suggesting that too much iron in your large intestine can lead to colon cancer. So we could use alginate to “mop up” the excess iron and prevent some people from getting cancer.
      Groups are also looking at alginates to cover some medicines to protect them so when you take them and they pass through your stomach the alginate gets degraded by the stomach acid instead of the active medicine which can carry on through your digestive system to where it needs to work.

    • Photo: Rachael Hallam

      Rachael Hallam answered on 9 Jul 2020:

      I am working on a project that examines compounds from seaweed (both green and brown “macroalgae” or seaweed) that can be used in the pharmaceutical industry. I have some polysaccharide (long sugar chains) compounds in the freezer waiting to be tested on skin cancer cells.

    • Photo: Heather Walton

      Heather Walton answered on 9 Jul 2020:

      I know there is a research group in our neighbouring uni which is making chemicals from ocean creatures synthetically in the hope that they can be used in medicine – it wouldn’t be sustainable to take these chemicals from the creatures, as they are rare and it would damage the marine ecosystem, so they are searching for a way to make the same chemicals from starting materials which can be sustainably sourced

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