The oceans contain an enormous wealth of living organisms, a biodiversity that far exceeds that found on land and a biosphere from which there exists great potential for descovering novel types of marine natural compounds. As new and emerging technologies evolve, there is great interest to exploit this potential.

One class of compounds that can be isolated from the sea are surface-active agents. better known as surfactants and emilsifiers. Their mode of action (i.e. to mix oil miscible and water miscible substances together) results in a global demand and industrial usage that is greater than 4 billion tonnes per annum. This annual turnover is met almost exclusiverly through chemical synthesis from pertroleum sources and their uses vary into almost every sector of modern industry, from agricultural formulations and food ingredients, to textiles, construction, cosmetics and farmaceuticals.

The BIOBAC project, which is support by the Argyll & Island Enterprise (AIE), investigates novel types of surface-active agents (i.e. primarily bioemulsifiers) originating from marine bacteria. In collaboration with industry, we are developing means by which these compounds can be used as a natural replacement to the various synthetic surfactants and emulsifiers that are being used in industry today.