EDINBURGH, Scotland, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Scottish and British scientists say a new way to analyze marine microbes might lead to better methods to manufacturer drugs for epilepsy, diabetes and flu.
The researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in Plymouth, England, said technology designed to analyze large numbers of novel marine microbes might also lead to improvements in the manufacture of other products, such as agrochemicals.
The scientists, in collaboration with Ingenza Ltd. of Edinburgh, are searching for new enzymes to use as manufacturing tools in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.
"We are using biology in our chemical processes to come up with improved manufacturing routes," said Ingenza scientist Robert Speight. "We are taking advantage of the natural diversity of marine organisms that has arisen through evolution in different environments and coupling that with high-tech screening systems. We are looking to find naturally occurring microbes that already have a built-in capacity to do the chemical reactions we want to perform in industry. There is every possibility of developing more efficient and sustainable manufacturing solutions -- for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals in particular -- as a result of this search."
The research is featured in the summer issue of Business, the research magazine of the U.K.'s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
