The vision of Ricardo Calado, Scientific Coordinator of CEPAM-ECOMARE and Project Manager of Hub Azul Aveiro (H4 – CITAQUA)
This interview was conducted with Ricardo Calado, Scientific Coordinator of CEPAM-ECOMARE and Project Manager of Hub Azul Aveiro (H4 – CITAQUA) , as part of the Blue Compass project, promoted by the Hub Azul Portugal Network, based on insights from the Hub Azul Dealroom, the leading digital matchmaking platform for blue innovation.
What scientific or technological advances are currently driving innovation in Blue Biotechnology?
Blue Biotechnology is in a phase of accelerated development, mainly due to advances in next-generation sequencing technologies and multiple omics tools that have been perfected. From metagenomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics, to proteomics, lipidomics and glycomics, all these tools make it possible to study the genetic material and biomolecules present in marine organisms ever more quickly and precisely.
With the support of increasingly efficient bioinformatics pipelines supported by artificial intelligence, it has been possible to discover more and more new enzymes, secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds in less time and with lower associated costs. It is also very important to mention the advances made in gene editing, with an emphasis on the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technique, which opens up new horizons for producing, for example, genetically modified microorganisms that can more easily be produced in reactors and give rise to biomass specifically developed to be used in the production of biofuels, as feed ingredients, as biofertilisers and/or pharmaceutical compounds.
Aspects related to circularity, the full valorisation of marine bio-resources and the sustainability of the bioprocesses developed are equally important in promoting a bioeconomy paradigm supported by blue biotechnology tools.
Which subsectors of Blue Biotechnology (e.g. algae-based materials, gene editing, biofuels, marine bioproducts) have the greatest potential for commercialisation?
It is not easy to answer this question without the appropriate regional framework, as it varies according to the investment associated with innovation, market needs and available bio-resources. The legal constraints on the commercialisation of new products, processes and services based on blue biotechnology also vary greatly from region to region. However, the following sub-sectors can be highlighted as having the greatest potential for commercialisation:
- Valorisation of by-products/coproducts from fish processing to develop new nutraceutical products (e.g. food supplements rich in omega-3 fatty acids), cosmeceuticals (e.g. skin firming products) and pharmaceuticals (e.g. anti-inflammatory, antiviral and anaesthetic products to combat chronic pain);
- Macroalgae valorisation for the production of biofertilisers, bioplastics and/or textiles, in order to accelerate the green transition and promote a reduction in plastics derived from fossil fuels;
- Genetic editing of marine organisms using CRISPR (or other genetic engineering technologies) to improve micro and macroalgae, as well as other marine organisms produced in aquaculture, to increase their productivity, with an emphasis on greater resistance to diseases; increasing the production of metabolites of interest (e.g. oils, pigments, bioactive products with various types of bioactivity) is also being explored, although the legal constraints in many markets, particularly in the European Union, may delay (or even prevent) commercialisation.
What are the main challenges – technical, regulatory or financial – that limit the scalability of Blue Biotechnology solutions today?
From a technical point of view, it is worth mentioning that there are still limitations to accessing, capturing and/or producing various marine organisms with biotechnological potential, particularly those that live in extreme environments and are therefore more difficult to access. The chemical complexity of many of the biomolecules present in marine organisms with biotechnological interest often makes them difficult to replicate in the laboratory, requiring the use of very advanced and expensive technologies in terms of time and financial resources to clarify and replicate their structures and functions. In addition, there are not always the means, or even the technology, to promote sustainable, large-scale cultivation of marine micro and/or macro organisms with high biotechnological potential, which jeopardises their production on an industrial scale. The same can be said of the bioprocesses needed to transform marine biomass into new products, processes and services in an environmentally and economically sustainable way.
From a regulatory point of view, the legislation that governs this sector is extremely complex, often omitted and quite fragmented. Access to and exploitation of marine genetic resources falls within areas of national and international jurisdiction, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol, which, often due to ignorance on the part of the authorities, result in a plethora of bureaucracy that delays and often prevents licences from being granted, thus compromising innovation and market entry.
From a financial point of view, the intensive nature of the capital needed to promote Blue Biotechnology is worth highlighting, given the specific nature of the equipment needed to bioprospect the marine environment (e.g. research vessels), the laboratory equipment to characterise and replicate the chemical diversity of genetic resources in the seas and oceans and the need for highly qualified multidisciplinary teams. In addition, this is a high-risk activity with a long-term financial return, since it has long development cycles (almost always more than 10 years) from which the expected financial return may not come, which makes it difficult to finance these activities through more traditional channels.