Biodiscovery
Many countries are facing complex and
difficult challenges, such as sustainable supply of food and
energy, climate change and environmental degradation, human health
and aging populations. Marine Biotechnology can make an important
contribution towards meeting these impending challenges. This is a
rapidly growing sector that encompasses a wide range of disciplines
to develop novel or alternative products or services from the
marine environment.
Marine micro-organisms (viruses, bacteria & micro-algae)
represent the largest unexploited biotechnological resource on the
planet. Marine biotechnology uses marine organisms at the whole,
cell, or molecular level with potential applications
including new medicines, human health products and chemicals
for use in the manufacturing and food industries.
PML Applications provides expertise in:
- Marine bacterial and extract culture
collection
- Isolation of novel marine microbes (from
algae, bacteria and viruses) for applications in drug discovery,
biocatalysis,
healthcare and bio-energy
- Screening capability for bioactivities and
isolation of natural products and enzymes
This includes the biochemistry and characterization of novel
products from marine organisms, particularly bacteria and
micro-algae, as well as research into the role, composition and
characteristics of microbial organisms and their genomes, in
particular marine bacteria and viruses.
Scientists at PML Applications Ltd, in collaboration with
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, have successfully isolated and
characterised hundreds of novel marine bacteria strains with the
potential for exploitation. These studies have identified novel
proteins, which could improve existing industrial processes, as
well as providing new routes to the development of novel
chemicals.
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