Deep Dive: Dr. Marc Slattery, Coral Reef Chemistry and Drugs from the Sea

The future of our pharmaceuticals are from down under.... the surface of course!

Coral reefs are the new tropical rainforests when it comes to drug research. When you think about it, how else do you protect yourself when you are a sea sponge, you can't move, don't have any spines or spikes and are free game for any of the thousands of species living nearby? Well chemistry of course! Turns out some of this chemistry may help with the future of our pharmaceuticals!

In today's episode we chat with Dr. Marc Slattery from the University of Mississippi all about his work trying to uncover the future of pharmaceuticals from reefs around the world.

For more information on the future of drugs from the sea and Dr. Marc Slattery's research click here. To watch his Ted talk "Drugs from the Sea: What do we lose when Coral reefs die?" click here.

Interested in helping our coral reefs? Here are a couple organisations doing great work in Coral Reef Conservation, Restoration and Research!

The Coral Reef Alliance  As one of the largest global NGOs focused exclusively on protecting coral reefs, the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) has used cutting-edge science and community engagement for nearly 30 years to reduce direct threats to reefs and to promote scalable and effective solutions for their protection.

Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology works on coral reefs, tropical marine ecosystems that protect coastlines, support tourism, and provide nutrition to many island nations. Our focus is on defining biological traits that drive the differences in performance among corals and reefs.

The Coral Restoration Foundation We are actively restoring coral reefs on a massive scale, educating others on the importance of our oceans, and using science to further coral research and coral reef monitoring techniques.

The Coral Reef Research Foundation is based in Palau and does original research to acquire the knowledge needed to understand and make intelligent decisions related to conservation, climate change and resource management.

The Mote Marine Laboratory Coral Reef Restoration Program in Florida, US develops and applies science-based strategies with the goal of restoring depleted coral reefs in our lifetime. Specifically, Mote researchers are working to optimize restoration using diverse coral genotypes (genetic varieties), prioritizing native genetic varieties that can resist SCTLD and other stressors such as increased water temperatures and ocean acidification.