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Marine organisms produce a vast diversity of metabolites with biological activities useful for humans, e.g., cytotoxic, antioxidant, anti-microbial, insecticidal, herbicidal, anticancer, pro-osteogenic and pro-regenerative, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, cholesterol-lowering, nutritional, photoprotective, horticultural or other beneficial properties. These metabolites could help satisfy the increasing demand for alternative sources of nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, cosmeceuticals, food, feed, and novel bio-based products. In addition, marine biomass itself can serve as the source material for the production of various bulk commodities (e.g., biofuels, bioplastics, biomaterials). The sustainable exploitation of marine bio-resources and the development of biomolecules and polymers are also known as the growing field of marine biotechnology. Up to now, over 35,000 natural products have been characterized from marine organisms, but many more are yet to be uncovered, as the vast diversity of biota in the marine systems remains largely unexplored. Since marine biotechnology is still in its infancy, there is a need to create effective, operational, inclusive, sustainable, transnational and transdisciplinary networks with a serious and ambitious commitment for knowledge transfer, training provision, dissemination of best practices and identification of the emerging technological trends through science communication activities. A collaborative (net)work is today compelling to provide innovative solutions and products that can be commercialized to contribute to the circular bioeconomy. This perspective article highlights the importance of establishing such collaborative frameworks using the example of Ocean4Biotech, an Action within the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) that connects all and any stakeholders with an interest in marine biotechnology in Europe and beyond.

Seaweed resources play an increasingly important role in European Blue Growth and Bioeconomy strategies and European production is anticipated to increase dramatically with the continued up-swing of global market interests in seaweed resources. As a consequence, there is a need to ensure the environmental sustainability of future aquaculture activities, as reported in the PEGASUS white paper. The present article summarizes the published PEGASUS guidelines developed in the framework of the COST Action Phycomorph, for the future development of this sector. This includes the advances made in this important arena of applied phycology taking into account scientific, technical, environmental, legal and socioeconomic dimensions. Challenges, bottlenecks and risks are identified and presented with a special focus on production issues regarding productivity, breeding, choice of appropriate cultivars, disease and pests and also the risk of using non-indigenous and invasive species as candidates for cultivation. The barriers for long-term, sustainable exploitation are also examined including harmony with the European "Nutrition and Health Regulations" necessary in order to ensure food safety. The PEGASUS guidelines provide scientific recommendations required to address the above issues and to provide science-based advice to policymakers, managers and industries for the sustainable development of industrial-scale seaweed aquaculture in Europe and beyond.

The United Nations proclaimed a decade of marine science for sustainable development (2021–2030) to develop a common framework that will ensure that ocean science can fully support countries in achieving the goal of sustainable development. Marine scientific understanding is fundamental to managing human activities that affect this environment, and ocean observations have a particularly important role in enhancing the knowledge base of our oceans. With this important task, scientists have the responsibility to act in an ethical way and apply all the fundamental principles described in the Cape Town statement: (a) ethical values, (b) social values and (c) cultural values (Peppoloni and Di Capua, 2017). This article is a fist attempt to highlight the core values applicable to ocean observation, which can then be improved and adopted as part of geoethics and the stewardship of the Earth system. It opens up avenues for reflection on geoethical implications in the field of ocean observation and suggests nine key principles that marine scientists could follow in their innovative research regarding open access to data, effectiveness, compliance with laws, environmental respect and nature conservation, reciprocal relation and cultural respect, equity and fairness, knowledge transfer, governance adapted to socio-ecological systems, and the use of animals in research.

Esterases are involved in the susceptibility or resistance of organisms to organophosphate pesticides. We have examined the action of parathion on the marine dinoflagellates Crypthecodinium cohnii and Prorocentrum micans by looking at their esterases. One-dimensional gel electrophoresis, immunoblotting and cytochemistry plus image analysis were used to characterize the nature and distribution of the enzymes. Esterases were found in both species, but there appeared to be no particular intracellular localization. The esterase activity of the heterotrophic species Crypthecodinium cohnii was 30-fold greater than that of the autotrophic Prorocentrum micans and had an antigenic site in common with mosquito esterase. The resistance of Crypthecodinium cohnii to parathion was specific and reversible. Less parathion entered the parathion-resistant Crypthecodinium cohnii cells than the untreated control cells. Parathion-resistant cell extracts of Crypthecodinium cohnii analyzed after immunoblotting also contained an additional band of esterase activity. These results confirm the importance of esterases in toxicological studies of organophosphate insecticides, especially those of marine dinoflagellates.

Marine scientists in Europe summarize their successes with genome technologies in the marine sciences and make a plea for a concerted international effort to raise greater public education for support.