Marine Biotechnology
MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY: A DEVELOPMENT FOR THE FUTURE
Biotechnology 's first impacts occurred on a terrestrial level, but "there 's an end to the diversity of terrestrial life. And if you go back and ask a fundamental question: Where on earth does the biodiversity reside, you realize it is the ocean (William Fenical, Scripps Institution)." Marine biotechnology is defined as "the application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by marine biological agents to provide goods and services (Zilinskas et al., 1995)." Marine organisms have become of scientific importance due to their major shares of biological resources and possessions of unique structures, metabolic pathways, reproductive systems, and sensory and defense mechanisms, as a result of adaptations of intense environments varying from freezing polar waters to enormous pressures on the ocean floors. Marine technology then applies both new and existing biotechnological techniques to the organisms of the sea, which the vast majority has yet to be identified.
Marine biotechnology and aquaculture research creates both modern essential understanding and advanced technologies for producing new pharmaceuticals, biomaterials, and other products; expanding and increasing bioremediation and bioprocessing; boosting cultivation of aquatic species; and developing understanding of biological processes in the oceans and their role in global change (Ocean Studies Board, 1994). Since humans have hunted the sea for years, this has left many fisheries and marine ecosystems almost irreparable, yet with new and future applications of marine biotechnology, these ecosystems could be replaced.
Human populations continue to increase rapidly, and coastal environments are being severely disturbed by human activities, including pollution and the depletion of some commercially important finfish and shellfish species. A feeling of urgency about decreasing human effect on the ocean, as well as the need to
Biotechnology 's first impacts occurred on a terrestrial level, but "there 's an end to the diversity of terrestrial life. And if you go back and ask a fundamental question: Where on earth does the biodiversity reside, you realize it is the ocean (William Fenical, Scripps Institution)." Marine biotechnology is defined as "the application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of materials by marine biological agents to provide goods and services (Zilinskas et al., 1995)." Marine organisms have become of scientific importance due to their major shares of biological resources and possessions of unique structures, metabolic pathways, reproductive systems, and sensory and defense mechanisms, as a result of adaptations of intense environments varying from freezing polar waters to enormous pressures on the ocean floors. Marine technology then applies both new and existing biotechnological techniques to the organisms of the sea, which the vast majority has yet to be identified.
Marine biotechnology and aquaculture research creates both modern essential understanding and advanced technologies for producing new pharmaceuticals, biomaterials, and other products; expanding and increasing bioremediation and bioprocessing; boosting cultivation of aquatic species; and developing understanding of biological processes in the oceans and their role in global change (Ocean Studies Board, 1994). Since humans have hunted the sea for years, this has left many fisheries and marine ecosystems almost irreparable, yet with new and future applications of marine biotechnology, these ecosystems could be replaced.
Human populations continue to increase rapidly, and coastal environments are being severely disturbed by human activities, including pollution and the depletion of some commercially important finfish and shellfish species. A feeling of urgency about decreasing human effect on the ocean, as well as the need to
References: Maser, DRJ and ed. Ad. Van Dommelen (1996). Public Acceptance and Risks of Biotechnology Ocean Studies Board (1994).Molecular Biology in Marine Science: Scientific Questions, Technological Approaches, and Practical Implications Palladino, MA and Thieman, WJ (2004). Introduction to Biotechnology. Pearson Education, Inc Pomponi, SA (1999). "The bioprocess-technological potential of the sea." Journal of Biotechnology, 70[1-3]:5-13. Rayl, AJS (1999).Oceans: Medicine Chests of the Future? The Scientist 13[19]:1. Univisjon http://www.treats.uib.no/lang4/8histf.htm Zilinskas, RA, Colwell, RR, Lipton, DW and Hill, RT, 1995