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Samples of State-of-the-Art Research Projects and Questions

Chemical & Engineering Product Innovations

Identify all new technologies and innovative products in an industry.

Find safe, nontoxic, natural animal deterrants.

Identify a potential, nontoxic additive for a novel polymer product.

Reviews in materials science including metals, polymers, etc.

Reseach potential green technologies for a manufacturing sector.

Business Development

Strategic business development report including value-added options for a company.

Find distributors, not manufacturers, of a manufactured product in a particular state.

Search for export data in regard to a fabricated product.

Funding Projects

Identify global partners or investors.

Create a list of venture capital funds appropriate for a venture. Find angel funding.

Create Information Portals

A web portal for useful links to resources to go green.

Create a web portal of selective links on powder coatings.

Create a web portal including selected links on the martial arts.

Sales Support

Match manufactured product with potential buyers.

Identify buyers using business databases and create lists of prospects by region.

Teaching & Publication

Teach how to search the web and databases of interest to a company.

Find syllabi for a course.

Network with trade associations interested in sponsoring professional development.

Select avenues for identifying the pathways used for the pre and post publication of books.

Non profits

How to identify assets of 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporations.

Identify potential users of the services of a nonprofit, and potential donors.

Research financial and other details of a 501(c)(3).

Create a list of funds'development officers in a subject area.

Image enhancement

Image enhancement of professional writers and authors of journals and books

Network with foreign groups to determine their interest in English as a Second Language.

Holocaust

Research sources on children that disappeared during the Holocaust.

Digitization project.

Search Holocaust information and related databases.

State-of-the-art analyses

Prepare literature updates and analyses of interest to a trade association.

Conduct worldwide patent searches in chemical, engineering, and material science research.

Identify green solutions for manufacturing products.

Prepare a state-of-the-art report: see Executive Summary, below:
State-of-the-Art Analysis of Marine Invertebrate Cell Culture, 2007
Executive Summary
by Rosa S. Raskin & Associates, LLC
The marine environment includes over 15,000 novel chemicals with a projected market for
the year 2009 as 2.6 billion pounds (about 5.2 billion dollars U.S.) or higher (Carmichael,
2006 quoting BCC market research). Applications include but are not limited to novel
pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, food supplies, cosmetics, specialty chemicals, biocides, etc. 

The U.S.A. and Japan appear to be leaders in investigating the diversity of marine invertebrates
as many investors are not informed regarding the marine biotechnology sector (Carmichael, 2006).
Not only are there many marine invertebrate species of value but many of these invertebrates
house potentially useful microorganisms that live in a symbiotic relationship with the host,
such as a sponge that contains 29 unique bacterial strains within its structure. The sponge is a
specimen used in cell culture and so are the potentially useful strains of microorganisms living
inside the sponges, corals, or tubeworms. These new strains of symbiotic organisms, in the case of
the sponge, bacterial strains, may hold the secrets to new antibiotics to fight microorganisms
that have become resistant to existing antibiotics (Carmichael, 2006).  

Few nations know how to sustain a healthy coral reef yet these reefs have an important economic
impact on coastal communities (Colwell, 2004). The current methods to increase the numbers of a
desired marine invertebrate are to collect it from the sea, grow it in cages or apparatus via
aquaculture, chemical synthesis if one has the technology, genetic techniques via molecular
biology, symbiotic culture, or cell culture of the marine invertebrate species. Marine invertebrate
cell culture being the least developed (Carmichael, 2006).

A basal medium has been created to support primary marine sponge cell culture using the sponge
model, Hymeniacidon perleve (Quanyu Zhao, 2005). Dissociated sponge cells re-aggregate to form
a functional organism (Pomponi, 2006). Sponge cell cultures have, thus, been used as a model for
the study of developmental biology and immunology (Pomponi, 2006). The discovery of unique
bioactive compounds in marine sponges, and the feasibility of in vitro production of these chemicals
are ongoing (Pomponi, 2006). 

One hypothesis for successfully growing marine invertebrates in cell culture is that they must be
in a regenerating phase when harvested for culture. Holothurian (Sea Cucumber) intestines are an
example (Odintsova, et. al., 2005). Odintsova, et. al., (2005) includes a review of why attempts
at long term established cell lines have been difficult to achieve with marine invertebrates.
Odintsova, et al (2005) states that the marine invertebrates do not readily undergo cell division
(mitosis) and the cells take a long time to adjust to the medium in which they are placed for
growth. It seems logical to use embryonic cell lines or rapidly growing cells undergoing mitosis
for successful establishment of a continuous cell line (Odintosova, et. al., 2005).

It is interesting to note that the flatworm that most biology students study in their first
biology class has incredible regenerative powers. Reuter et. al., (2004) states that the flatworm,
the planarian, is loaded with stem cells. The presence of stem cells or making cells behave as
stem cells may be one of the keys to unlocking the potentials of marine invertebrate cell culture.

Hydrothermal vent systems deep within the oceans are being studied per the unique organisms
associated with the "cradle of life". An ordinary milliliter of sea water contains millions
of microbial and viral particles (Colwell, 2004). Cost factors that may not be included in
the marine invertebrate cell culture market are the expenses involved with the bio-fouling
that occurs in the aquaculture industry (Odintsova, et. al., 2005) and the shipping industry.
Few coastal nations know how to sustain or repair a most valuable marine ecosystem, a healthy 
coral reef (Colwell, 2004). Shall we deplete our resources from the seas before we identify
and learn to grow them in cell culture? Can we place a monetary value on the potential of
saving human lives from diseases, such as cancer, or leave future generations to deal with
antibiotic resistance when the secrets to the cures are within our oceans, within our reach?  

References:  

Carmichael, H. Fishing for gold. Chemistry & Industry no. 23 (December 4 2006) pp. 18-19. 

Colwell, Rita R. Marine Biotechnology: A Confluence of Promise in Annual Review & Forecast
--Special Issue.
Sea Technology v. 45 no. 1 (January 2004) pp. 10-52.  

Odintsova, N. A., et. al., Regenerating holothurian tissues as a source of cells for long-term
cell cultures. Marine Biology v. 146 no. 5 (April 2005) pp. 915-21. 

Pomponi, S. A. Biology of the Porifera: cell culture [Review]. Canadian Journal of Zoology
v. 84 no. 2 (February 2006) pp. 167-174. 

Quanyu Zhao. , et. al., Formulation of a Basal Medium for Primary Cell Culture of the Marine
Sponge Hymeniacidon perleve. Biotechnology Progress v. 21 no. 3 (May/June 2005)
pp. 1008-1012.

Reuter, M., et. al., Flatworm asexual multiplication implicates stem cells and Regeneration.
Canadian Journal of Zoology v. 82 no. 2 (February 2004) pp. 334-56.

Please note:
All content and all links on this web site are for educational purposes only. This web site
is not engaged in rendering medical or any other advice or professional medical services.
Any medical or other decisions should be made in consultation with your qualified health care
provider.


Photograph by Maria Shine Stewart
Rosa S. Raskin, M.S., M.L.S.
Technical Information Specialist & Business Researcher
451 Lassiter Drive, Highland Heights, Ohio 44143 USA Phone: 440-461-4125

rosa@raskinfo.com