Into Arctic Waters for World Health Antibiotic Crisis

Helmer Hanssen of European Union suported Pharmasea Project in full action in the Norway Artic Basin

Researchers on board the Helmer Hanssen are navigating the challenging waters of the Arctic Ocean is search of the next generation of antibiotics. World Health Organization WHO highlights the importance of the expedition supported by the European Union. WHO explains that antibiotic resistance has transformed into a World Crisis.

“If no one finds new antibiotics for common infections, what will happen is that we will return to the pre-antibiotic Era -times when a simple cut could become an infection which turns deadly,” Researcher Marcel Jaspars told CNN.

Hoy reported on January 16th on the PharmaSea Project which set North and mission to find the antibiotics of the future synthesising new chemical formulas. PharmaSea embarks into the cold Arctic waters financed by the European Union. Unknown bacteria will be hunted down in diverse layers of water. Frozen ice sheets and bodies of ice examination could also be of interest and hold frozen potential in this health ocean search.

WHO adds that the World Health Crisis on antibiotic resistance is today a “threat to public health which engraves”. WHO urges for multi-level actions from all sectors, public, scientific and community in general.

From Tromson Norway CNN with inside eyes reported exclusively on the onboard moments of the crew which is according to them "reaveling secrets to creating life-saving drugs".

"It is early afternoon on board theHelmer Hanssen, and the Arctic sun is already starting to set. Near the back of the ship, two people dressed in orange rain slickers are anxiously waiting. Any minute now, the ship's lines will pull taut, and a green mesh bag will be back up on deck.When that time comes, a sigh of relief as crewmembers empty out the full bag onto the deck. Stepping forward are Jeannette Anderson, a cell biologist, and Robert Johansen, a marine biologist. The pile of dirt, sea sponges, and starfish from the ocean floor are what they came all this way for,” CNN repoted from above the vessel navigating the Arctic Circle in the Lyngen Fjord of northern Norway.

Pharmaceutical companies have turned to what has become one of the most controversial ocean environments in the past years for a global health solution. The impacts upon the Arctic Ocean are well known and scientifically established. Ice retreat, loss of habitat, endangered species...it becomes ironic that climate change caused mostly by global human behaviour is putting in risk an environment which could hold the key to cure deadly health affections.

The flag of PharmaSea Project is not the only one hoisted in the waters of the Arctic Ocean but perhaps is among the most philanthropist.

“It (the Arctic) is a huge international strategic interest and there are an increasing amount of potential resources up there—oil and natural gas, general exploration, fisheries, basically anything and everything,” Professor Richard Murray told BU Researcher in the article “Murray Goes to Washington”.

Professor Murray from Boston University College of Arts & Sciences has spent the past 25 years exploring the ocean, leading elite teams of seagoing scientists and in 2015 embarked to Washington DC as Director of the Ocean Sciences Division of the National Science Foundation NSF .

Professor Murray with a special interest in the area has a thing for the “wider-bigger picture”. The Professor highlights the global role of the Artic basin, how much is yet to be explored and discovered, speaks of ice sheets and new doorways into the basin as well as ocean dynamics, global currents and global climate regulation. A volume of water which today is found in the Artic basin can be found thousands of miles away in just months.

Pharmasea is moving along a new health sector tendecy which is finding solutions in ocean drug sythensising. Ocean science is aiding the sector with the discovery of new species almost on weekly basis. The potential of the full tree of life of ocean species is yet to be revealed.

The Pharmaceutical companies have a set value of 2 billion USD for the entire process which concludes with the delivery of a new drug to the market. Antibiotic preparations for massive human use -unlike other drugs which require years of investigation are synthesised, tested and pass legal processes in relatively short periods of time.

New antibiotics are needed to respond to the fast adaptation and evolution of bacteria which have “learnt” to resist the standing antibiotics. Modern medicine, bacteria and antibiotics speed race evolution in the modern and future health race, in the frontline of this race the Helmer Hanssen of the PharmaSea Project takes a bold move breaking the cold waves of the Arctic Ocean, one wave after after the other, they moves forward trawling the depths .

“Anderson and Johansen take their finds from the bottom of the sea straight to a wet lab on the ship. It is critical to begin testing as soon as possible, ensuring freshness of the organisms. Johansen cuts open the starfish, while Anderson makes solutions to be plated on a petri dish. In a few weeks, bacteria will grow on the plates, hopefully exhibiting antibacterial properties,” CNN reported.

"It's a rush against time," Anderson told CNN. The early results are promising.

Jaspars of PharmaSea states that while bacteria have developed resistance to the antibiotics in the past 30 years they sure can not defend themselves against “something they have never seen before”.

“In the past bacteria and fungus have been the main sources of antibiotics,” Jaspers adds “in fact approximately 70% of our antibiotics are still sourced from nature, noramly from sediment samples and samples of soil”.

“But now looking into the ocean we hope to find new ways of live which will provide us a new chemistry which will be capable of treating bacterial infections,” Jaspers sets the bar high.

Ocean Life News in Brief

Ocean Level Increase Dropping Oceans Floor: International Press reported on December 5 on the findings of new research which assures that due to ocean level increase the ocean floor is sinking. The study published online in Geophysical Research Levels used mathematical equations to accurately measure the Ocean's floor impact driven by the increased of water volume weight. Using data from 1993 to 2014 researchers found that ocean level increase is causing the Ocean floor to drop globally by the milimeters. Ocean Dead Zones Up By Four: On January 8 New York Daily reported that Ocean Dead Zones have quadrupled.Researchers warned in a new study that oxygen-starved ocean dead zones, where animals and plants are struggling to survive, have increased fourfold and it may not be reversible. The new study was published in the Journal Science. The increase of Dead Zones was linked to climate change. La Niña´s Polar Wave Hitting Hard the US -Freezing Oceans: International Press reported on the Polar Wave hitting hard the US. The event is linked by experts to the influence of La Niña. “For the past couple of weeks, parts of North America have been chilling down to record temperatures, with massive snowfall and icy cold conditions putting life at a standstill for many,” media reported. The US East Coast has been particularly badly hit with the likes of Boston down to Philadelphia reaching bone-chilling lows of near 0°F , with icy winds making it feel closer to around -10°F to -20°F. Officially 18 were dead and 100 million affected. Government of Bali Declares a Garbage Emergency: On January 5 Ocean Conservancy reported on a New Waste Management Emergency in Bali. Massive amounts of ocean debri are affecting the island. The situation has reached its peak as the Government of Bali declared a “Garbage Emergency”. Clean up works have began. “Ivory Coast Village Swallowed by Ocean Increase,” Aljazeera Reports: On January 8 Al Jazeera reported that ocean increase levels are affecting infrastructure in the Ivory Coast. “Rising tides and more frequent, devastating storms are slowly destroying what is left of Lahou-Kpanda, the offshoot of what was once a major colonial town near the mouth of the Bandama River, the longest river in Ivory Coast,” Al Jazeera reported. Arctic Ocean Radioactive Levels on the Rise: IFL Science reported on January 3 on the findings of new report which assures that radioactive levels in the Arctic Ocean are on the rise. “Concentrations of radioactive radium-228 in the Arctic Ocean increased between 2007 and 2015,” the report reads. While levels have not yet reached a mark of concern the trend is worries experts. Lauren Kipp of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution addressed the issue. New World Wide Ocean Turtle Study Says 90% of Plastic Pollution Cases Result in Death: Earth Sky Org reported on January 7 that hundreds of marine turtles die every year after getting tangled in trash in oceans and on beaches. A research published in the journal Endangered Species Research took on a World-Wide Survey covering the major oceans where turtles live. They discovered that 91 % of the entangled turtles were found dead. They also suffered serious wounds from entanglement, leading to maiming, amputation or choking. Double Whirlpools Discovered for First Time: December 4 Press reported that Double Eddies have been registered for the first time in History. Tangled up Double Eddies can travel great distances affecting ecology significantly. Eddies are a natural part of the ocean environment but double whirlpools had only been theorized by mathematicians.