Visionneuse

Date_TXT

Springer, 2019

Auteur

Kim, Se-Kwon

Type de document

Livre

Description :

Seventy percent of the earth’s surface is covered by sea, and about 80% of all
animal species dwells in the sea. The oceans are where life first began; in the
three-billion-year history of the evolution of life, it was only in the range of hundreds of millions years ago when life forms first arrived from the sea to land. Those
organisms that arrived on terrestrial represented just a small fraction of all marine
creatures, and innumerable others continue evolving independently in the sea to this
day. It is therefore explicit that marine organisms are living in the extreme condition
and produce unique substances that cannot be produced by terrestrial-based
organisms, which can perform multitude of functions for human benefits. Furthermore, sea bearing high-pressure environment, averaging about 380 atm, the
marine organisms undoubtedly should possess distinctive mechanisms to withstanding this. With average temperatures of 1–4 °C, seawater is also an optimal
environment to inhabit psychrophilic (cold-loving) organisms. Interestingly, the sea
floor is also home to organisms with enhanced ability to withstand high temperatures, suggesting even further applications. At the bottom of the seas are
hydrothermal deposits where water is discharged at temperatures of over 300 °C.
Considering the existence of such extreme environment, it is well understood
that marine biomaterials can be exploited for the benefits of human cause in many
ways. These marine organisms hold truly great potential for future applications in
marine biotechnology. Marine organisms remain integral to human lives either as
an alternative source of protein, natural products, or as potential biomaterial source
for industrial purpose. In recent years, rapid advancements in scientific application
of marine biotechnology have been witnessed, particularly in the area of natural
product development, marine bioenergy, seaweed biotechnology, aquaculture,
genomics, cosmeceutical, nutraceuticals, pharmaceutical development, transgenic
technology, genetic recombination, cell fusion, and ultrafiltration membranes.