By Diana Taylor
BRISBANE, Australia (Reuters) - Scientists, hunting cures for
cancer and AIDS or ways of harnessing nature to make sunscreen
or pesticide, have turned their attention to one of Australia's
national treasures -- the Great Barrier Reef.
The scientists from Australia's fledgling marine biotechnology
industry are trawling through the world's largest living structure
in the hope of unlocking a treasure chest of micro-organisms,
venoms and naturally produced chemicals.
For Joe Baker and others, the sea, where life began, is likely
to contain millions of undiscovered micro-organisms and ocean
species with untold medical and commercial potential.
``About 80 percent of all living things are in the sea, so whatever
we have found on land, you could say four times that is going
to be in the sea, or even more,'' Baker, chief scientist of the
north-eastern state of Queensland, told Reuters.
``In potential terms, the value is as great as the whole pharmaceutical
industry is today -- you are talking billions of dollars.''
The scientists are keen to make Australia, a vast island continent
of just 19 million people, a world leader in commercializing marine
chemical products.
``With one of the world's largest coastlines we've got one of
the world's smallest populations, so we don't have the pollution
problems and that's an enormous natural advantage,'' Baker says.
Poisonous Cures
Peter Isdale, acting director at the Australian Institute of Marine
Science (AIMS) in northern Australia, says many scientists are
convinced cures for cancer and other diseases may be found in
compounds produced by marine micro-organisms.
``Over 600 million years these organisms have developed fantastic
armories of chemical weapons which they release into the sea water
to repel the bad guys,'' he adds.
``These chemicals are designed to kill cells, so all that remains
for scientists is finding the right chemicals which kill disease
cells we want, in the process of healing people.''
Commercial products in the pipeline include a sunscreen made from
micro-algae which protect corals from being burned by sunlight
when the tide falls, and a natural herbicide from marine compounds
found on the sea floor.
AIMS has signed a deal with unlisted Sydney company Sunscreen
Technologies to develop the sunscreen for a global market.
``There are a wide range of things being looked at such as anti-HIV
compounds, anti AIDS, anti-cancer all the way through the herbicides
and useful veterinary chemicals,'' Isdale says.
Peter Andrews, the chief executive of IMBcom, the commercial unit
of the Institute of Molecular Bioscience at the University of
Queensland, says an important group of drugs are being developed
from cone shell venom.
The Institute has licensed a drug developed from cone shells to
Melbourne pharmaceutical company AMRAD Ltd. The drug is undergoing
clinical trials as a treatment for pain.
``The venom of every one of about 500 cone shells found in Australia
contains hundreds of molecules which has interesting bio-activity
and there is tremendous capacity to find new medicines,'' Andrews
predicts.
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