We are very proud about a new article published called The Essentials of Marine Biotechnology. The paper is the mammoth result of a collaborative writing process involving 60 co-authors of the European Commission-funded Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action Ocean4Biotech – European transdisciplinary networking platform for marine biotechnology and focus the study on the European state of affairs, amongst which our Bythos aquaculture expert Dr Alexa Massa-Gallucci.
Dr Massa-Gallucci contributed to the article with the experience gained during the project BYTHOS, which is acknowledged in the publication. We are sure this paper will become a point of reference in the future for blue biotechnologies.
The article synthesizes the essence, opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges encountered in marine biotechnology and outlines the attainment and valorization of directly derived or bio-inspired products from marine organisms. The article includes an exploration of the concept of bioeconomy, the diversity of marine bioresources (with an overview of the most prominent marine organisms and their potential for biotechnological uses), an introduction to methodologies for exploration of these resources and the main use case scenarios in energy, food and feed, agronomy, bioremediation and climate change, cosmeceuticals, bio-inspired materials, healthcare, and well-being sectors. The key aspects in the fields of legislation and funding are provided, with the emphasis on the importance of communication and stakeholder engagement at all levels of biotechnology development. Finally, vital overarching concepts, such as the quadruple helix and Responsible Research and Innovation principle are highlighted as important to follow within the marine biotechnology field.
Well done to the co-authors.
