The Oceans - Our responsibility, our future pharmacies

Audience attending the Marine Evening

On Tuesday 6 September, the Great White House and Marine Dynamics hosted the monthly Marine Evening again, the first time since lockdown in Kleinbaai. The venue was packed with visitors from all over the Overstrand, excited to listen to the guest speakers, scientists from the Tuberculosis Research Group at Stellenbosch University. Team leader Dr Vuyo Mavumengwana was joined by PhD Student Kudzanai Tapfuma and MSc student Candice Februarie.

Cari Roets – Marketing Manager of Marine Dynamics

Falling under the department of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics of the university, this research group looks at the natural world, including the marine world, to find new compounds that can be developed into drugs in the battle against tuberculosis and cancer. As there are only a limited number of drug treatments against these diseases, and the diseases become more and more resistant to the existing treatments, the race is on to find new effective treatments.

Vuyo’s research interests aim to develop novel, intricate and bioactive chemical compounds, sourced from unusual natural sources such as plants, lichens, marine sponges, ascidians and fungi. And over the last several years Dr Vuyo’s lab has collaborated with scientists from the Dyer Island Conservation Trust to search the marine world for such compounds, which formed the central core of Kudzanai Tapfuma’s research. His research focused on the isolation, purification, characterization and assessment of bioactive compounds from fungi that live in symbiosis with sea squirts and other marine organisms. In turn, Ms Candice Februarie’s research looked at ensuring that the side effects of such compounds are not worse than the disease.

While the Dyer Island Conservation Trust looks forward to continuing working with Dr Vuyo’s lab, the collaboration between Dr Vuyo’s lab and the Trust has gone further than just looking at the marine world for bioprospecting. Interns from Marine Dynamics Academy have repeatedly visited the lab of Dr Vuyo to learn laboratory techniques that can bridge the gap between the medical and marine science fields, providing a valuable opportunity to young science students to broaden their vision of what is possible in the scientific field.

Wilfred Chivell, CEO of Marine Dynamics and the Founder of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, spoke about how “we appreciate these young scientists doing groundbreaking research in collaboration with Marine Dynamics. This is all the more reason for us to protect our oceans, as it can hold the power to cure TB”.

If you would like to be invited to our next Marine Evening, email us marketing@marinedynamicstravel.com.