London Maritime Academy is a trade name for London Premier Group
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8/7/2025, 2:13:53 AM
A new collaborative research project between Chuo University and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) aims to identify new natural compounds from marine species.
Remarkably, using marine organisms adhering to ship hulls and other surfaces, this study aims to find previously unidentified chemicals that could be useful to humanity, including possible new pharmaceutical resources, and to clarify their effects.
Similar to the discovery of penicillin, the first antibiotic ever discovered, from mould, natural ingredients have historically been essential in the creation of groundbreaking medications. A particularly abundant source for discovering new natural chemicals with substantial potential advantages for humanity is marine life.
Starting in 2023, NYK and the Iwasaki Laboratory in the Department of Applied Chemistry at Chuo University's Faculty of Science and Engineering have been working on a pilot project to gather and examine marine life affixed to ship hulls. They also examine other comparable surfaces.
Moreover, through this effort, an unidentified natural ingredient was found, and its effects were later examined in cooperation with the study group of Professor NOZAKI Tomoyoshi at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Medicine.
According to preliminary findings, the drug prevents the proliferation of the Rhodesian trypanosome, which causes African sleeping sickness, a “neglected tropical disease.”
In March 2025, a student from the Iwasaki Laboratory reported this discovery at the Chemical Society of Japan's annual meeting.
Finding medicinal resources in marine species is one of the topics covered at the Maritime Professional Training. You will also explore the fascinating and quickly evolving fields of drug discovery for marine biotechnology and marine natural products.
Chuo University and NYK have formally signed a five-year joint research agreement, building on the findings of the original study. While NYK will mainly assist in the collecting of these marine animals, Chuo University's Iwasaki Laboratory will gather marine organisms, investigate unidentified natural chemicals, and assess their utility.
