This Portuguese-German collaboration addresses one of the grand challenges in today’s modern biology: the climate change-driven spread of microbial diseases across marine host organisms and its impact on ocean and global health. Cooperation partner: Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (iBB), Department of Bioengineering (DBE), Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Period 2025-2027
Utilizing AI for marine enzyme discovery to address human-made grand challenges - Lead-PIs: Erik Borchert (GEOMAR), Ulisses Nunes da Rocha (UFZ), Dörte Rother (FZJ). GEOMAR-PIs: Ute Hentschel, Mirjam Perner, Stefanie Böhnke-Brandt - 01.01.2025-31.12.2027, approved 12.6.2024
Photo: Ulrike Panknin
The ocean is home to a vast treasure trove of enzymes that have yet to be discovered, and which may hold the key to finding sustainable solutions to critical environmental problems caused by humans. But how can we unlock this treasure? The AI MareExplore project, led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, UFZ und FZJ, aims to use artificial intelligence to identify these valuable biocatalysts. The project is tapping into open-access marine genome databases to train AI models that can identify enzymes capable of breaking down plastics or sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Coordinator NORCE Norway, GEOMAR PI Ute Hentschel, Erik Borchert
Horizon Europe HORIZON-CL6-2024-CircBio-01-10
Budget 4.5 mil € (total) 392.500 € (RU Marine Symbiosis), 01.01.2025 - 31.12.2028, approved 11.6.2024
Microbes from Extreme Environments as Key to Innovations: Research Project XTREAM Investigates the Industrial Potential of Extremophilic Microorganisms
Impacts on ecosystem functions and human health by environmental plastics and associated chemicals
P-LEACH assesses the impact of chemicals from globally increasing environmental plastic pollution on ecosystem functions and human health
Helmholtz Innovation Pool (2022-2024) - Contact: Dr. Erik Borchert
Harvesting the Marine Plastisphere for Novel and Innovative Biotechnology Concepts
BMBF (February 2020 to January 2023) - Contact: Prof. Dr. Ute Hentschel Humeida
For more information please click:
https://www.researchgate.net/project/PLASTISEA-Harvesting-the-marine-Plastisphere-for-novel-cleaning-concepts
How the ocean digests plastic waste - An insight into current research at GEOMAR
Lecture by Dr. Erik Borchert & Dr. Hassan Humeida at the Toni-Jensen-Gemeinschaftsschule Kiel (11 June 2021)
New school event on "Water, plastics, sustainability"
B 01: Host-microbe cross talk in the early metazoan taxa Porifera and anthozoan Cnidaria
DFG-SFB (01/2024-12/2027) - Contact: Prof. Dr. Ute Hentschel Humeida
http://www.metaorganism-research.com/
C 04: New approaches to understanding eco-evolutionary dynamics in metaorganisms
DFG-SFB (01/2024 - 12/2027) - Contact: Prof. Dr. Ute Hentschel Humeida
http://www.metaorganism-research.com/
Coral_Clownfish (Fotocredit: David Clode)
PIs ASG Sponges Consortium: Sandie Degnan, Nicole Webster, Torsten Thomas (Australia), Ana Riesgo, Lucia Pita, Pilar Rios, Javier Cristobo, Manuel Maldonado (Spain), Sally Leys (Canada), Grace McCormack (Ireland), Laura Steindler (Israel), Rodrigo Costa, Joana Xavier (Portugal), Thierry Perez (France), Joe Lopez Andia Chavez-Fonnegra (USA), Gert Wörheide, Ute Hentschel (Germany) (Lead PI)
Period: 2021-2024
New Tools for Advancing Model Systems in Aquatic Symbiosis
Establishing marine sponges as models for evolutionary, ecological and mechanistic aspects of animal-bacterial symbiosis
PIs Sandie Degnan (Australia), (Lead PI), Laura Steindler (Israel), Torsten Thomas (Australia), Ute Hentschel (Germany) Jasper de Goeij (Netherlands)
Period: 2020–2024
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