(First of two parts)

The field of marine biotechnology is now recognized worldwide as an emerging and promising area of scientific research and development. The marine environment is considered the world's last frontier in the search for novel drugs from nature for serious human diseases such as cancer, AIDS and drug-resistant infections. Several leading universities in technologically advanced countries are engaged in marine bioprospecting with support from their governments. Their aim is to discover and characterize novel bioactive compounds and to develop and produce these as useful drugs through biotechnology. The ultimate challenge of marine biotechnology consists of utilizing and translating into economic value the rich resources of the seas.

The Philippines is identified as the third highest in marine biodiversity in the world, and as a marine biodiversity "hot spot," i.e., with threatened biodiversity. To protect, conserve and promote wise utilization of our rich natural resources, the Philippine government enacted the Wildlife Act in 2002. A section of this legislation concerns the regulation of bioprospecting, which refers to the collection, study and utilization of biological and genetic materials for commercial use. The Wildlife Act aims to ensure conservation of biodiversity and provide benefits to the government and local communities if useful products are developed from Philippine raw materials or natural resources.

Local communities, considered the custodians of the marine resources that surround them, can benefit from marine bioprospecting, drug discovery and biotechnology in the long term. The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) recognizes and protects indigenous knowledge of medicinal and agricultural uses of Philippine natural resources. The Wildlife Act requires that benefits be shared with indigenous communities in the event that useful products are developed based on their indigenous knowledge. Farming and field-based, "low-tech" marine biotechnology for large-scale production of materials may provide work opportunities for these communities in the future.

The university should play a key role in transforming raw materials or natural resources to useful products by providing the appropriate milieu for scientists to conduct meaningful and productive research, e.g., an academic climate for interaction among researchers and mentoring of students to become competent researchers; physical infrastructure and basic facilities and equipment to conduct research; an intellectual property office to protect the intellectual property or inventive rights of scientists; and a technology transfer office to find industry partners to develop results obtained from basic R&D for useful applications and products. Over the last 25 years, the UP Marine Science Institute (UPMSI) has played a leading role in documenting, conserving, improving and propagating Philippine marine resources, establishing basic scientific information, and identifying and developing useful applications for them. Value is added to raw materials through scientific discovery, intervention, and invention, and scientific ingenuity originates and resides in the scientists working in a conducive, supportive environment in a research institute such as the UP Marine Science Institute.

Biodiversity and human health issues are, indeed, closely linked. Biodiversity is the source of chemical diversity, which has been the basis for discovering useful drugs and medicinal agents from Nature throughout history. Over 70 percent of all clinically used anti-infective drugs today are natural or Nature-derived compounds, and so are over 60 percent of all currently used anti-cancer drugs. The loss or depletion of biodiversity then would imply the loss of a valuable pharmacological resource. Thus, conservation of marine biodiversity is of great importance to biomedical research and human health. While terrestrial biodiversity has long been studied extensively and fewer new classes of terrestrial compounds are now being discovered, marine biodiversity remains largely unexplored. Based on the scientific literature in the last 20 years, marine invertebrate animals and microorganisms continue to yield novel compounds with unprecedented chemical structures and potent biological and pharmacological activities. Thus, the oceans are rightfully considered an untapped pharmacological gold mine.

At UPMSI, there exists a multi-disciplinary team of well-trained scientists, e.g., marine biologists, ecologists, natural products and polymer chemists, biochemists, toxinologists and molecular biologists, who together have shown the capability to study unique marine habitats and rehabilitate endangered ones, to identify marine invertebrate organisms that produce compounds that can serve as leads for new drugs, and to propagate marine plants that produce polymeric materials that can be useful in industry and medicine.

With strong productive scientific collaborations with foreign laboratories, technology continues to be transferred to the UPMSI. Marine biotechnology at UPMSI is quickly advancing from low level to intermediate and advanced level. This, combined with our rich indigenous marine resources, could translate into a real competitive advantage for the Philippines. While other institutions are also active in marine biotechnology, the UPMSI is one of the country's pioneer institutions in the field. It is at the forefront of aquaculture, marine polymer, marine natural products and marine biomedical research and could have one of the best chances to produce innovative useful marine products that would benefit Filipinos.

(To be concluded)
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Gisela "Giselle" Padilla-Concepcion, Ph.D. in Chemistry, is an associate professor at the UP Marine Science Institute, Diliman, Quezon City, where she teaches graduate courses and heads the Marine Natural Products Research Group. Send comments and inquiries to gpconcepcion at yahoo.com.