Australia’s Oceans Policy provides an integrated strategy for the exploration and ecologically sustainable utilisation of marine natural resources. Areas identified as research priorities include enhancing the sustainable development of aquaculture industries and the use of marine genetic resources for pharmaceutical and commercial applications. The AIMS Marine Biotechnology Group will deliver results in both of these areas.

Research in tropical aquaculture will focus on prawn domestication and genetics, the culturing of new species, and improvement of methodologies to enhance industry production.

The search for new biochemicals from Australia’s marine biodiversity will continue towards the development of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products, agrichemicals for crop protection, and novel bioremediation agents for environmental protection. The search for novel biochemicals is complemented by examining the adaptations of marine organisms to harmful and aggressive environments resulting in the production of biotoxins and venoms, antifoulants, signalling agents, and other molecular defences. Understanding the biochemical functioning of these agents has wide potential for the rational discovery of new and useful marine products.

In addition, the development of new molecular platform technologies will provide bio-innovative methods for environmental analysis of water quality, for genotypic characterisation of natural biodiversity, and for disease or pest diagnostics necessary to evaluate the sustainability of marine natural resources.

Research teams
The AIMS Marine Biotechnology Group includes three research teams. The approximate level of investment (expenditure based on 2003-04 figures) is as follows:

• Bioactive Molecule Discovery ($1.72 million)
• Bio-innovation ($2.01 million)
• Tropical Aquaculture ($3.18 million).

Major activities
Examples of major activities to be undertaken by research teams within the Marine Biotechnology Group in the 2003-06 triennium include:

• Analysis and screening of marine macro-organism and micro-organism samples for useful compounds for medicine, industry and the environment;
• Agrichemical sector bioassay development and marine natural products chemistry;
• Development of biosensors for determination of water and food product quality;
• Research extending anti-oxidant properties of marine organism extracts to explore anti-aging and cancer prevention applications;
• Prawn and rock lobster domestication; and
• Development of new species targets for aquaculture to supply global biomedicinal and commercial fibre (bath sponge) markets.

Contact
Dr Chris Battershill, Group Leader
Telephone: (07) 4753 4431.
Facsimile: (07) 4772 5852.
Email: c.battershill@aims.gov.au

For more information about our research:
Research plan 2003-2006 

30 June 2003

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Last updated - December 18, 2008
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