NEWSROOM

The local biotechnology startup ENBIOSIS, which stands out with its studies on the human microbiome, announced that this time it will start researching on the microbiome of the Marmara Sea, which is struggling with mucilage. According to the statement, the company also received support from TUBITAK for its project, which aims to reveal the microbial factors that trigger mucilage.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.
Google Translate Application translates the content you see on this page.***

ISTANBUL (TR) - Studies on mucilage, which started to be seen intensively in Marmara in May 2021 and then reached the Aegean and Black Seas, are still on going. According to the statement made by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, 11 thousand 84 cubic meters of mucilage was cleared from the sea surface as of July. At the same time, action plans to prevent pollution and accelerate solution activities are being discussed in the Parliamentary Mucilage Problem Investigation Commission, while experts warn that mucilage formation continues to be seen at the bottom of the sea and marine life is still in danger, even though it is not seen on the surface at the moment. These warnings give speed and importance to research on mucilage. Recently, the local biotechnology company ENBIOSIS announced that it has launched a social responsibility project to do carry on researches on the microorganism community called the mucilage microbiome, which plays a role in the formation of mucilage, at the whole genome level. According to the statement made by the company, the project was expanded to cover the entire Marmara with the support of TÜBİTAK.

Researches on Microbial factors that trigger mucilage 

Making a statement on the subject, ENBIOSIS Data Scientist Dr Emre Onuk said, “Within the scope of this research we are conducting as a social responsibility project, for water and mucilage samples to be collected from different stations and different water layers in the Bosphorus, Marmara Sea, Dardanelles and North Aegean Sea. we will make a definition in the dimension of genetic material by using next generation sequencing and data science technologies. Thus, we will first reveal microbial elements such as microbial species, gene distributions, metabolic pathways, including human pathogens. Then, using artificial intelligence technologies, we will try to find the key mechanisms that trigger or contribute to the formation of mucilage. In simple terms, our aim is to reveal potential microorganisms or microbial mechanisms that can be a key element in the mucilage microbiome network.

"Degradation of the Marine microbiome causes the sea to become sick”

Explaining why the project focused on microbiome analysis, project coordinator Associate Dr. Aycan Gün-doğdu said, “It doesn’t matter if it’s human, soil, water, the microbiome directly affects the health of all habitats where it is found. For example, in humans, disruption of the gut microbiome can lead to certain chronic diseases. Likewise, disruption of the marine microbiome can cause the sea to become sick. The mucilage problem, which has been seen from time to time in the Sea of ​​Marmara since the 1990s and has reached serious dimensions today, is actually a kind of sea sickness. For treatment in all diseases, first of all, it is necessary to establish the diagnosis. As ENBIOSIS, we started studies a few months ago to see what happened to the microbiome of Marmara, with a purely social responsibility perspective, first to define the microenvironment that plays a role in mucilage formation at the metagenome size, and then to reveal the micro-organisms and/or mechanisms that play a key role in mucilage formation. Later, we designed these preliminary studies and presented them to TUBITAK together with two universities, and they decided to support our project. As soon as the project is completed, we plan to share all our results with all concerned sides, especially the scientific world.”