Next generation of antibiotic will be taken from the bottom of the ocean
British scientists have started a large-scale and expensive £8m project. A group of scientists at Aberdeen University will reach ocean's deepest bottom to investigate it. They hunt for unrevealed chemicals among underwater sea life in deep sea trenches.
Researchers hope to find so-called ‘next generation’ medicines that will help to fight with different infections.
Experts have already collected some samples from the ocean sea floor and they also believe there is a high probability that many substances can be discovered in these extreme conditions. In such hostile environment in each trench life is always cut off from the outside world and has developed differently.
The scientists on fishing vessels will use necessary equipment to select new samples. Researchers hope to grow fungi and spores from the sedimentary rock that will help to discover the new generation of antibiotics.
The project will start in the autumn; firstly scientists will search the Atacama Trench in the Pacific Ocean situated about 161 km off the coast of Peru and Chile. Then deep ocean trenches of New Zealand coasts and the Antarctic waters will be explored. Arctic waters off Norway will also be searched in the end of expedition.
Source: Eurolab