The Benefits of Bioactive Natural Products from Mesophotic and Deep-sea Micro-organisms (OLLI)

Our oceans are home to some of the most productive
and biologically diverse ecosystems in the world.
This biodiversity leads to incredible chemical diversity,
and the intense competition for resources observed
in marine ecosystems promotes the evolution of
secondary metabolites, or “marine natural products.”
The objective of the Francis lab is to discover bioactive
natural products from marine micro-organisms that
have potential therapeutic or commercial applications.
To achieve this, we sample unique marine environments.
This allows us to generate a library of microbial extracts
that are screened for various bioactivities, including
antibacterial and antifungal activity, cancer cell
cytotoxicity, and harmful algal bloom algicide activity.
Join us to learn more about this exciting research.