A holistic approach to training a new generation of scientists in marine biodiscovery

Información del proyecto

HOTBIO

Identificador del acuerdo de subvención: 101072475

DOI

10.3030/101072475

Fecha de la firma de la CE 22 Junio 2022

Fecha de inicio 1 Enero 2023

Fecha de finalización 30 Junio 2027

Financiado con arreglo a

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Coste total

Sin datos

Aportación de la UE

€ 2 379 736,80

Coordinado por

UNIVERSITETET I TROMSOE - NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HOTBIO (A holistic approach to training a new generation of scientists in marine biodiscovery)

Período documentado: 2023-01-01 hasta 2024-12-31

Resumen del contexto y de los objetivos generales del proyecto

Being a MSCA Doctoral Network, the main goal of the HotBio project is to train a new generation of experts within the field of natural products drug discovery. From a scientific point of view, the goal is to identify new bioactive natural products from marine microorganisms that can be developed into new medicines. HotBio includes a total of 13 PhD projects, covering the entire marine biodiscovery pipeline from field sampling of marine microorganisms, isolation and characterization of bioactive natural products, investigating their mode of action and to understand practical aspects of access and benefit sharing as well as business aspects of commercializing natural products. The doctoral candidates (DCs) receive dedicated scientific training on key parts of the pipeline in three specially designed courses. In addition, the DCs are also trained in transferrable skills including career planning, communication, legal and regulatory aspects, patenting and entrepreneurship. The students have research visits (secondments) to academic and industry partners to gain insights in different aspects of the natural products drug discovery and development process, and to develop awareness of the challenges and opportunities that exist in collaborations between academia and industry. The training and networking offered by Hotbio will make the DCs attractive employees in the future for academia, industry and governmental bodies.

For more information on HOTBIO project, please consult our website http://www.hotbio.eu/

Trabajo realizado desde el comienzo del proyecto hasta el final del período abarcado por el informe y los principales resultados hasta la fecha

All the DCs of HotBio were recruited within the first year of the project and they all fulfilled the mobility criteria set by the European Commission. They have completed the first short course on transferrable skills (SCT1 Starting your career as a young researcher – career planning and communication) and the first two short scientific courses (SSC1 The journey from hit to market, and SSC2 Dereplication and structure determination). A library of microbial isolates has been established, the bacteria have been fermented and extracted, and the extracts have been tested for biological activity. Bioactive compounds are currently being identified and potential new compounds that have promising properties will be targeted for isolation. Known bioactive compounds have been chemically synthesized to elucidate their mode of action, and data from natural products are used to train models for predicting bioactivity as well assessing drug-like properties.

Avances que van más allá del estado de la técnica e impacto potencial esperado (incluida la repercusión socioeconómica y las implicaciones sociales más amplias del proyecto hasta la fecha)

The HotBio project are promoting the development of computer-based tools for predicting properties of natural products that are relevant for drug development. Such tools can predict potential bioactivity of a compound (i.e. what kinds of biological targets the natural products can interact with) and how the compounds will be treated by the human body if they are taken as drugs (i.e. administration, distribution, metabolism and excretion, ADME). The existing models are to a large degree trained on synthetic compounds, and by including natural products to the training data, these tools can be a valuable contribution to the process of developing new medicines from diverse natural products.

Logo