Interdisciplinary research involving oceanographers, microbiologists, meteorologists, epidemiologists and others will be necessary to assess the impact of global climate change on the spread of human diseases and to determine the direct and indirect impacts on vector-borne as well as waterborne infectious diseases. Marine Biomedical Research Natural products provide the basis of a majority of the pharmaceutical products used to treat human disease and illness. While these compounds have been largely terrestrial in nature, the marine environment is a potentially rich source of new medicinal products. The oceans are home to a wide variety of plant and animal life, containing over 200,000 known species of invertebrates and algae alone, just a fraction of the marine species that likely exist in the oceans. In the past many of these species would have been inaccessible to scientists, but the development of new technologies in recent decades, such as deep diving submersibles, has made work in these formerly inhospitable areas possible.
Marine organisms are potentially valuable for their wide variety of chemical diversity.
Many of the species that live in the oceans have primitive immune systems and have had to develop chemical compounds to defend against predation, attract or inhibit the settling of symbiotic organisms, and provide chemical cues to synchronize reproduction. The mechanisms by which organisms accomplish these goals are similar to those involved in the human disease process of inhibiting cell division and so may be particularly useful in developing anti-cancer drugs. Researchers have been responding to the untapped potential of the marine environment as a source for new medical products. The National Cancer Institute has begun to support more research in anti-cancer drugs derived from marine organisms, and there are currently several products in clinical testing. As these early studies begin to bear fruit, there should be increased investment in studies of marine chemical compounds and microorganisms that will result in new natural products of medicinal value.