The next generation of life-saving drugs could be present in the depths of the world’s oceans, according to a BBC report on research being carried out off the west coast of Scotland.Scientists say unusual compounds and gene sequences in some marine creatures and plants could lead to the discovery of anything from much-needed new antibiotics to cancer drugs.
“Nature is a fantastic designer — it’s constantly making new things and testing them,” said Dr. Andrew Moggs of the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS). The organization is part of a consortium called Seabiotech that has received more than GBP 6.2 million (USD 10.6 million, EUR 7.8 billion) from the EU to search Scottish waters.
“The oceans cover more than two thirds of Earth’s surface,” he added. “Yet we’ve only dipped our toes in the water when it comes to our understanding of this vast expanse — just 5 percent has so far been explored.”
However, investment in this area is growing steadily. In the next phase of the EU’s research budget, EUR 145 million (USD 197 million) has been earmarked for studying the seas.
Dr. John Day, also from SAMS, said much of what is “findable” on land has already been found. “Historically the ocean isn’t a place where people have looked, so they haven’t exploited it.
“In addition there’s a whole raft of new technologies allowing us to screen more methodically and more scientifically and produce more useful data that can point towards a final product.”
However, a lack of clarity over legislation could prove a setback for this burgeoning area of research.
There are clearly defined laws about how the sea can be exploited within a country’s Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ). And if a country has signed up to the Nagoya Protocol, an update to the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity, it has an additional responsibility to ensure that any exploitation in its waters is fair and sustainable.
The area beyond a country’s EEZ is governed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. This regulates activities such as mineral exploitation, but it doesn’t cover so-called ocean “bioprospecting.”
“The Law of the Sea focuses on what is on the ocean floor or beneath it and it also specifies non-mobile organisms, but there doesn’t seem to be definitive legislation with regards to what is in the water column,” said Day.
“This is a concern, because this ‘Wild West’ of the seas is home to an extraordinary range of creatures and plants. Simply to survive, they have to adapt to extremes of temperature, pressure and darkness — and it’s this hardiness that makes them so attractive to scientists.”
Professor Linda Harvey, from the University of Strathclyde, said it’s particularly important for companies to have legal clarity when they’re working in open waters. “It will cost money to develop the drug and put it through clinical trials and if they [the companies] don’t have legal certainty they will potentially lose the right to produce that drug and it’s not acceptable to them.
“And, in my opinion, that would put companies off investing in taking samples from the deep-sea environment.”
Professor Marcel Jaspars, from the University of Aberdeen, said that a new mechanism is needed to make sure any profits from deep sea exploitation are shared.
“If you were to discover anything, any royalties would lie in the future,’ he explained. “The question is how to police that in 20 years’ time?
“We need to know who is out there, and how they will list the fact that they have collected something. Then you will need to track where it goes next — the progress of a project from the initial collector to the person who uses it in a laboratory to the drug — can involve many changes of hands.”
Jaspars said profits could go into a central pot — perhaps administered by the UN — either in the form of a fee paid for a license to carry out the exploration, or as payments once the development of the drug begins. The money could then be put back into ocean research and monitoring.
Bringing new drugs to market can take 15 years and cost more than GBP 1 billion (USD 1.7 billion, EUR 1.3 billion). However, this would be a small price to pay if this new frontier in medical research lives up to its promise.
