For over a decade the National Marine Fisheries/ National Ocean Service have carried out applied research in the area of natural toxins that affect both human and environmental health. Numerous marine organisms, predominantly marine microbes such as dinoflagellates, have been mass cultured in our facilities in efforts to produce substantial quantities of purified toxins necessary for use in seafood monitoring, pharmacological research and for used as standards in the development of better, high throughput analytical detection methods. Though focused only on the toxins, we have observed other interesting biological activities from the large extracts derived from these cultures. By and large these compounds have been ignored, as they were typically viewed as “outside NOAA’s interest”. Now we wish to address these compounds. We believe that there is a strong potential for commercial applications and development of many of these chemicals – and we are part of DOC!
To address these compounds, the first step is to define molecular structure and function of the active metabolites. To this end, the National Ocean Service has invested in high- end chemical-analysis instrumentation, such as HPLC-MS (APCI, ESI, MALDI, FAB, etc.) and LC-NMR-MS (including two new high-field NMR instruments (750, 800 MHz)), to help define the molecular structure of these compounds. The Hollings Marine Laboratory is developing a strong chemistry program to help all research in this area as outlined in the development of the new OHH program.
Presenter:
Peter Moeller, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Marine Biomedical and Environmental Sciences (MBES)
Medical University of South Carolina
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
11:00 a.m.
Pacific Ocean Science & Technology Building, 723
Refreshments will be served after the seminar in POST 121
The Pacific Research Center for Marine Biomedicine (PRCMB) is a newly established center at the University of Hawaii dedicated to trans-disciplinary research designed to gain new knowledge about the profound impacts of the ocean on human health. The Center is funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
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