Soft Corals (Octocorallia) Are Marine Bio-Resources towards Biotechnology and Medical Applications
A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 2824
Special Issue Editors
Interests: soft coral taxonomy and biology; symbiotic algae; marine invertebrates; biomaterials; marine natural products and environmentally-friendly antifouling paints
Interests: marine bio-resources; stem cells differentiation; cells niche; scaffold biomaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Soft corals (=octocorals) have been demonstrated to be a tremendous bioresource with potential for developing biotechnology toward novel medical and pharmaceutical applications. The increasing discoveries of biomaterials alongside biomolecules originating from marine organisms, and in particular from octocorals, have revealed the need for further thorough studies along these lines. The properties and function of marine natural products obtained from octocorals and their symbiotic microorganisms motivate extensive exploration across the oceans. The obtained results exhibit outstanding properties, such as biocompatibility for scaffolding purposes, also being applicable for tissue regeneration and treatment of various diseases. Such discoveries have motivated both the academia and the pharma sectors to further explore possible useful applications. The most significant applications of biomaterials derived from soft corals include medical devices such as for tissue scaffolds, bone implants, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agents, drug delivery agents, as well as cosmetic and other medical implementations. The upcoming issue will present novel findings and breakthrough perspectives in the field of octocoral biomaterials and biomolecules while demonstrating promising interdisciplinary approaches across basic and applied research.
Prof. Dr. Yehuda Benayahu
Prof. Dr. Dafna Benayahu
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- octocoral bioprospecting
- drug discovery
- biomaterials
- natural products
- medical devices
- scaffold and regenerative biology
- therapeutic applications
