Why a dying coral reef may save your life: The Hollings Marine Lab

It makes perfect sense. As the coral reef slowly decomposes, various bacteria fight each other over who will get to eat the dying reef. Dr. Peter Moeller explains that bacteria not only use antibiotics to defend themselves but also “to attack each other.” So when these bacteria go on the offense, they generate a super antibiotic to which the bacteria that affect human beings may not be resistant. The future of antibiotics may very well be waiting in the coral, and this is just one of the many new discoveries taking place at the end of Fort Johnson Road on James Island.

The place is called the Hollings Marine Laboratory. It is an eight-year-old, federally owned site on the campus of the South Carolina Marine Resources Center. The purpose of the Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) is to “promote collaborative and interdisciplinary scientific research to sustain, protect, and restore coastal ecosystems with emphasis on links between environmental condition and the health of marine organisms and humans.”

Though it’s a Federal NOAA research facility operated by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), what gives the HML its think tank style of innovation is its unique partnership between NOAA’s National Ocean Service, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the College of Charleston and the Medical University of South Carolina. The lab generates more than $20 million in funding, and the HML employs 115 people.

Dr. Eric Lacy of MUSC explains that this “unique partnership of state, federal and education agencies creates a terrific model, which allows for more integration in the lab.” Lacy points to the space age-looking doors of the various laboratories and proudly explains that all of them open onto the main hallway: “The staff shares all of the equipment here. It is a completely collaborative effort.” This means that medical doctors and researchers, state officials and government scientists all have access to the NIST specimen bank, which is a biological library containing thousands of fish samples from the last 20 years.

So if there were a local oil spill, all of these officials and scientists would have instant access to actual fish samples from the Exxon Valdez oil spill or whatever else they may need. Dr. Moeller (the guy who is studying coral antibiotics) explains that normally a federal scientist such as he would have a very narrowresearch goal, but the collaboration with medical and academic scientists allows him to also study the “commercial viability” and practical applications for humans in his research.

Behind Moeller is a dryerase board with a complicated chemical structure drawn in red ink that appears to have been drawn and erased many times. He points to the sketch with pride, “We have finally solved this puzzle.” The toxin drawn on the board occurs in the freshwater algae, Euglena sanguinea, which appears red in color and causes rashes at human contact. Dr. Moeller and his team isolated the toxin in the red algae and discovered that it is identical to the toxin in fire ant venom. They suspect it may have cancer-fighting properties and have passed it on for further research.

Most marine research centers investigate the question: “How does man affect the ocean?” Dr. Lacy explains that the HML wants to know, “How does the ocean affect man?” Their goal is to enhance aqua culture in every way possible. In the wet lab are dozens of metal tanks filled with young cobia fish. In a single tank off to the right are the massive parents of the fish. The young offspring are divided into separate tanks and fed different variations of plant food and protein. The idea is to find the optimal growth, optimal protein and optimal nutrition, such as omega-3 fatty acids, in the fish with the minimal amount of resources expended.

Dr. Lacy and the others hope that they will be able to feed the fish in a similar process as farmers feed cattle. They are hoping that feeding the young fish plant derived food for their entire lives, and then the more expensive protein-based food just before harvest will yield a crop of fish with equitable nutrition content as those who are fed protein diets for their entire lives. If this proves true, then it could revolutionize the fish-farming industry and help counter global food shortages.

Another section of the lab is studying the lungs of dolphins. By concentrating their blood flow to their brain and vital organs, dolphins are able to swim for hours on a single breath of air, which a dolphin can inhale in a matter of seconds. When the dolphin surfaces, it must completely collapse its lungs to take that massive breath. A dolphin’s lungs are coated with a material called surfactant. Surfactant enables the lungs to collapse and then re-inflate. Dr. John Baatz, MUSC Department of Pediatrics, and his students hope that the unique composition of surfactant in dolphin lungs will lead to treatment for premature infants who are born with collapsed lungs and in risk of brain and organ damage.

The Hollings Marine Lab is even doing its part in the War on Terror with its study of “environmental chemistry and toxicology, as well as pathogen source tracking, monitoring and assessment.” Dolphins are being used for surveillance purposes from the Charleston Harbor to Iraq. According to Dr. Lacy, because of their sensitivity to their aquatic environment and their anatomical similarity to humans, “dolphins are a kind of a canary in the coal mine for humans.” Dr. Geoff Scott, Director of the HML, explains, “Dolphins also serve as sentinels or marine signals for neurotoxins or agents that may affect the central nervous system because of the high compression of blood to their brains.”

Yet these mammals aren’t the only line of defense. Dr. Scott works with the Department of Homeland Security and various agencies, even elementary schools to monitor water samples, fish kills and algae blooms by satellite. By February 2009, they hope to have an early warning system in place for any kind of marine outbreak, ecological disaster or attack on the oceans of which we are so dependent. “It’s not just weapons of mass destruction that concern us; it’s weapons of mass disruption,” Dr. Scott explains. “Seafood is the third largest import industry in the United States after oil and cars. A threat to this industry could create economic chaos.”

No doubt the futures of our national security and of our scientific progress both demand the type of collaboration and innovation that the Hollings Marine Lab provides for the delicate relationship between our Lowcountry waters and their human inhabitants. This partnership on James Island is not only cutting edge; it seeks to protect citizens and enhance life. We are betting this operation has just begun to flourish.