Ocean Medicines: PolicyMic looks at deep sea potential

For many, the oceans are both a source of nourishment and a waste disposal site. But they can also be a source of important new medicines. Unfortunately, our desire to fill our stomachs with the ocean's bounty or empty our trash is also threatening its possibilities as a new-found pharmacy.

In June, I wrote about the ocean's medicinal potential and Jonathan Booth, writing for PolicyMic.com, has written an excellent piece on the deep ocean as a source of new medicines. Rather than paraphrase, here is his piece in its entirety:

Oceanic Discoveries With Medicinal Powers

When we think of obtaining medicines from natural sources, we usually conjure up scenes of trekking through vast swathes of dense tropical forest in search of rare ferns, vines, palms, and other plant life. However, there is now a growing interest in the lesser known organisms that inhabit the oceanic abyss and the medicinal and genetic properties they may contain. An organisation that has taken significant steps to examine deep sea animals is CIOERT, which recently conducted deep sea expeditions in search of invertebrates to help alleviate an array of ailments, including cancer. Likewise, researchers in Australia have discovered derivatives from some sea cucumber species that can work as an anti-inflammatory, and some coral compounds may be used to help with bone grafting or the treatment of tumours. Accordingly, swift actions need to be taken to fund and promote the exploration, research, and protection of the oceans – some of the least explored habitats, which often escape environmental and ecological policy.

Over three-quarters of our planet is submerged under seawater, and with the Pacific Ocean’s deepest point extending over 10,000 metres below sea level, the oceans form undoubtedly the largest habitable and least explored environment on earth. Yet, unlike terrestrial regions, the absence of breathable oxygen, diminishing light levels, and immensely pressurised depths make the seas an almost inaccessible domain for humans. Due to these conditions, marine systems also function differently to land-based habitats. The land relies on plants to capture the sun’s light and combine it with water and CO2 to synthesise sugars; this provides the crux of all land food-webs. In the sunlit upper layers of the sea, conversely, green plants are substituted for single-celled phytoplankton, and terrestrial insects and herbivorous mammals are replaced with zooplankton (a drifting soup of eggs, sperm, and microscopic animals).

The deep ocean is devoid of light so no plants can live in this region; instead, abyssal organisms have to rely on organic detritus that drifts from above, or mineral-laden volcanic plumes that belch from the inner earth. In this unfamiliar realm, it is not surprising that marine scientists are making seemingly countless discoveries about new animals and even new ecosystems.

The sea floor is dominated by the weird and wonderful world of invertebrates. From the colorful architectures of sponges and corals, to mechanical crustaceans and a bewildering array of worms, starfish, sea cucumbers, and sea squirts it is difficult not to be amazed by some of these curious creatures. However, such life forms are not only visually stimulating: In the eyes of the medical profession, their physiologies can be lifesaving too, which reiterates the need to research and preserve oceanic organisms and their environments.

An animal that has been a favorite lab companion for many pharmaceutical industries is the horseshoe crab. With a large, flattened, dome-shaped carapace that masks almost all signs of the segmented limbs that emerge from beneath, and a long, tail-spike that juts out from the rear, this animal almost defies belief. Yet apart from its science fiction-like form, these extraordinary creatures have also caught the attention of the medical profession, who have been collecting specimens over the past few decades to assist scientists with medical trials. This is due to the presence of copper-based haemocyanin in the animal’s blue blood (unlike the red-pigmented ferrous haemoglobin found in mammals); this blood contains amebocytes – white-blood cell substitutes – that can help identify the presence of bacteria in medicinal solutions. Marine discoveries like these have helped to further medical progression, which in the case of the horseshoe crab includes the development of wound dressings, optical research, and the guarantee that all your injections are free from bacterial contaminants.

Recent discoveries concerning the physiological and genetic characteristics of this cast of organisms are advancing the understanding of medicine, which could be significant for society. In order to further this knowledge, we need to expand deep sea exploration projects and associated research. Since the 1970s, submersibles have discovered not only new fauna, but also entire ecosystems that function without any source of sunlight. However, there is also a need to conserve and protect the oceans. Currently, national marine parks and marine protected areas help to conserve certain coastal regions, such as coral reefs; yet the open oceans and abyss have been largely neglected. Pollution, oceanic waste-sites, overfishing, and other marine exploitations have had adverse repercussions on our marine systems; such impacts could be furthered by the escalating threats of projected anthropogenic climate changes. It is apparent, therefore, that appropriate measures need to be taken to not only research the deep and its inhabitants, but also to conserve it. Otherwise, we may be destroying a ready stocked medicine chest that has yet to be delved into – and a beautifully adorned one at that.

Read more at PolicyMic.com.

Deep Water Snailfish: expedition discovers new species in Pacific trench

Deep ocean trenches represent a kind of aquatic dark-side-of-the-moon environment of which we know very little. In recent years, attention has been focused on thermal vents that exist in some deep water trenches and the amazing sealife that was found to be thriving in conditions that previously were believed to be hostile to any form of life. However, thermal vents are not the only source of life in the blackness of the deepest depths.

The BBC Earth News recently reported on an expedition team from the University of Aberdeen that has been investigating life in several deep ocean trenches in the southeastern Pacific Ocean off of Chile and Peru. In one particular trench that was over 26,000 feet (8,000m) deep, a new species of snailfish was discovered at 23,000 feet (7,000m).

At these depths, much of the sealife leads a scavenger existence, feeding on the remains that float down from above. In shallower areas, dead animals that come to rest on the bottom are consumed by a variety of crustaceans, bottom-feeding fish, and even sharks. At very deep depths, basically the same process occurs but with animals that have adapted to the pressure and total lack of light. It's a bleak existence with very little if any vegetation, so scavenging or feeding on the scavengers themselves is the key to survival.

The snailfish is one who feeds on the scavengers, crustaceans mainly. Although it has eyes, they are aren't of much use, so the snailfish has an extended lateral line system with sensory pores around its head which allow it to sense subtle vibrations in the water.

"When they sense movement, they suck in all the water in front of them in the hope that there are crustaceans in that water," said Dr Alan Jamieson, who lead the University's expedition.

While other animals that cruise deep open waters often utilize light-emitting organs to attract and catch prey, bottom-feeders are less attracted to those types of lures. So other sensory skills for hunting have evolved, like the snailfish's lateral line enhancement. There are over 195 species of snailfish, found in various depths in colder waters closer to the Arctic and Antarctic. They are similar to sculpin with elongated bodies, big heads, and large pectoral fins.

The University plans to conduct additional studies in the northwestern Pacific's Japan Trench. It was in the Japan Trench, in 2008, that the University, in conjunction with the University of Tokyo, discovered a species of snailfish at a depth of over 25,000 feet (7.7km), making it the deepest known fish.

The majority of the ocean exists in darkness and at great depths. While more abundant or colorful marine ecosystems in shallower waters might catch our attention, scientists know that these abyssal depths play an important role in the ocean's entire life cycle. We need to understand that role better and how it might be impacted or changing due to atmospheric and ecological changes occurring closer to the surface.

Read the BBC Earth News article.