The largest ecosystem in the world (70% of Earth's surface) holds great potential for the advancement of biotechnology. The natural habitat of marine organisms can be brutal, demanding valuable properties such as heat (or cold) resistance, high pressure survivability, and salt tolerance.
Detection of poisonous toxins for the sake of Gray (Environmental) Biotechnology is a serious concern to prepare for environmental challenges such as algal blooms.
The use of biosensors has become a popular alternative to slow, expensive, and labor-intense detection methods. Marine Biosensors can be used both before and after harvesting food from aquatic environments. (McPartlin et al. 2016)
Bioremediation is the removal of toxins from an environment using living organisms. Degradation of waste in aquatic environments is done using bacteria and enzymes from marine sources. (Nikolaivits et al. 2017)
The first biofuels were founded on using Green Biotechnology.
Marine Biotechnology is considered the third-generation source of Biofuels. Microalgae are photobioreactors (energy from sunlight) which can be produced on a large scale at low cost. Algae can be farmed at exceptional speed without using valuable land. The only requirements are enough light, easy-to-find nutrients, and carbon dioxide. (Ganesan et al. 2020)
Blue biotechnology is important for the preservation of mass-produced food. Using alginate to coat fruits and vegetables will protect them from bacteria and viruses. It is also biodegradable and edible. Other materials based on marine molecules are used as both renewable packaging and preservative simultaneously.
Red (Medical) Biotechnology cosmetics and medicine often rely on marine biomimetics (mimic biological processes). This improves effectiveness and has less risk of virus transmission.
Pharmaceutical drugs often include marine materials for their delivery system. They are biodegradable, controllable, and less vulnerable to dangerous bacteria.
Marine biomaterials are used to partially imitate damaged cells while simultaneously encouraging the healing process. Chitin films have become popular in dressing wounds. Complex health issues such as brain tumors which are challenging and dangerous to confront are being studied as well.
Marine collagens protect from UV light exposure and can act as moisturizers, making them popular in cosmetics. Molecules used by marine organisms to absorb UV light are included in modern sunscreens. (Gheorghita et al. 2020)
White (Industrial) Biotechnology and Blue Biotechnology are heavily intertwined. The widespread and unique environments that Blue Biotechnology draws from provides numerous opportunities.
Industrial materials especially from the automotive industry often originate from marine sources. They are strong, light, and environmentally friendly. The creation of thermally stable structures and insulation is a popular application.
Adhesives of many kinds draw their technology from marine sources, especially for wet environments. These are used in industry and medicine.
Marine organisms often have intense coloration which is used industrially. Highly reflective silver fish are studied in the creation of micromirrors or nanomechanical detection. Harvesting solar energy is often done using photosynthetic material based on aquatic plants. (Claverie et al. 2020)
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Claverie, M., McReynolds, C., Petitpas, A., Thomas, M., & Fernandes, S. (2020). Marine-Derived Polymeric Materials and Biomimetics: An Overview. Polymers, 12(5), 1002. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12051002
Ganesan, R., Manigandan, S., Samuel, M. S., Shanmuganathan, R., Brindhadevi, K., Lan Chi, N. T., Duc, P. A., & Pugazhendhi, A. (2020). A review on prospective production of biofuel from microalgae. Biotechnology reports (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 27, e00509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.btre.2020.e00509
Gheorghita Puscaselu R, Lobiuc A, Dimian M, Covasa M. Alginate: From Food Industry to Biomedical Applications and Management of Metabolic Disorders. Polymers. 2020; 12(10):2417. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12102417
McPartlin, D. A., Lochhead, M. J., Connell, L. B., Doucette, G. J., & O'Kennedy, R. J. (2016). Use of biosensors for the detection of marine toxins. Essays in biochemistry, 60(1), 49–58. https://doi.org/10.1042/EBC20150006
Nikolaivits, E., Dimarogona, M., Fokialakis, N., & Topakas, E. (2017). Marine-Derived Biocatalysts: Importance, Accessing, and Application in Aromatic Pollutant Bioremediation. Frontiers in microbiology, 8, 265. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.00265