Imagine the deep-sea reefs of the Bahamas holding the cure to some of the most deadly diseases known to man. It’s what a group of Florida-based scientists has imagined, and those experts believe that they just may be on to something.
The researchers will be exploring deep coral reefs in the Straits of Florida between Miami and Bimini beginning today and will be collecting organisms that they hope may have compounds which would be useful in the treatment of diseases like cancer, AIDS and Alzheimerﾒs.
Experts from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce, Florida, will be leading the expedition, which is being funded by the State of Floridaﾒs “Florida Oceans Initiative” ﾖ which provides a grant for exploration.
“Weﾒve had some luck in the past,” said Amy Wright, director of the Harbor Branch Division of Biomedical Marine Research, who spoke with The Bahama Journal on Sunday.
“Weﾒve had a compound called discodermolide that came from a sponge that was collected from shallow water habitats in the Bahamas, but actually occurs much more commonly in deep-water habitats in the Caribbean.”
That compound actually went into phase one trial for the treatment of cancer, although Ms. Wright said “itﾒs currently on hold.”
“Weﾒve certainly found a number of compounds that have quite a bit of potential,” she said. “We donﾒt have anything thatﾒs made it yet, but we keep thinking that any day now.”
Harbor Branch, a research-based organisation, will be using its Johnson-Sea-Link II submersible during the expedition.
Ms. Wright believes that there is great diversity among the deep-water reefs that have yet been explored, and she believes some of these organisms indeed do have chemicals with pharmaceutical potential.
In December, through funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, University of Miami researchers led by geophysicist Dr. Mark Grasmueck and geologist Dr. Gregor Eberli, used an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to begin mapping the deep waters between Miami and Bimini.
Dr. Grasmueck explained that the AUV, which has a computer and mapping centre, can operate for 55 hours on its own. What it does during that period is follow the seafloor at an altitude of about 40 meters above the seafloor and acquires a map of the area.
“The nice thing about the AUV is that because itﾒs so close to the seafloor, you get a very high resolution map,” he said.
“We know very little about the seafloorﾅWhat we are looking at are deep-water coral reefs that are smallerﾅto get a comprehensive view of what is on the seafloor you need maps to see what the features are.”
Dr. Grasmueck told The Bahama Journal that great progress has been made in that regard. He said as a geophysicist, he is interested in the genesis of the deep-water corals.
“Weﾒre going to go with the submersible and dive to some of these sites ﾖ we canﾒt go to all of them we map; we just take a selection. What we want to find out is are there live corals down there; what kind of animals live in these coral reefs. Also, what weﾒre trying to do is find out where the nutrients come from,” he said.
Prior to the mapping, he said what researchers had been doing was grabbing things in the dark, but they had no idea where they came from.
“The AUV map is the first time we really see where weﾒre going,” Dr. Grasmueck said.
Ms. Wright said the team has gotten the necessary permits from Bahamian authorities, and added that if there are any chemicals with pharmaceutical value found, there would be a profit-sharing arrangement with The Bahamas to benefit from the discoveries.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
