Innovation Capabilities & Products

Authors: María del Mar Costa Portela, Beatriz Novoa García, Antonio Figueras Huerta, Sonia Dios Vidal, Camino Gestal Mateo

The invention provides a method for the identification of polynucleotides, coding precursors of polypeptides, with antibacterial and antiviral activity (myticines and mytilines). More detailed information can be obtained here.

Pathogen detection and identification in wild and farmed animals, as well as in seafood products. Evaluation of the relationship between pathogen incidence and various environmental and physiological aspects to provide risk assessments for target pathogens.

Application of the most advanced -omic techniques for the identification of resistance genes that can be used as biomarkers for the selection of pathogen-resistant variants of marine aquaculture species.

Application of the most advanced -omic techniques, together with immunology,  microbiology and protein biochemistry, to develop immunostimulants and vaccines for aquaculture species.

Development of space-specific tools for assessment, management and decision-making by modeling the impacts of present and possible future environmental scenarios (pollution, climate change, etc.) on oceanographic conditions, biodiversity distribution, physiological response or fisheries and aquaculture performance.  

Development of integrated culture techniques for new aquaculture species, as well as optimization of traditional ones based on different approaches (i.e. early development, handling, feeding, disease and immune responses, ecophysiological performance, or ecosystem carrying capacity) to improve animal welfare, yield and sustainability in global marine aquaculture.

Prospection of new bioactive compounds in marine organisms and food industry by-products, including characterization of their activity and validation of their application in different sectors (health, cosmetics, nutrition, etc.).

Characterization and measurement of micro-physiological responses or molecular markers generated in response to environmental conditions for the development of an early warning system for environmental perturbations.

Studies on the structure of the genome of marine organisms, including gene mapping, DNA sequencing and how the complete set of RNA transcripts is produced by the genome and affected by development, diseases, or environmental factors conditioning the phenotype and particularly proteomics and metabolomics, always applying the most advanced techniques (ATAC-seq, MethylCap-Seq, RNA-seq, recombinant DNA technology, knockin and knockout CRISPR/Cas9, enhancer detector (ZED),Tol2 kit and BAC transgenic technologies, etc.).