Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Biology

Mentor

David Campbell

Abstract

The focus of this thesis is the possibility of oceanic medicine through understanding the general biology of poriferans, their symbionts, medicinal properties, and how we could harvest sponges conservatively. It was necessary to understand the basic biology of poriferans regarding their structures, differences in their classes, and how they obtain nutrition, develop, and reproduce. The ecology of the poriferans was also researched including their larval and sessile stages and how their environment determines where they settle. Additionally, ecology was examined including how poriferans interact with symbionts and other organisms. This then was utilized to seek whether poriferans had useful medical properties for human diseases. These medicinal properties included antibacterial, anticancer, antiviral, antifungal, antimalarial, and anthelminthic properties and more. Lastly, current medicines already on the market with sponge-based chemical compound analogs were researched. Next, sustainability in using poriferan for medicinal aspects was investigated. This included ways by which poriferan could be harvested most efficiently including which environments they thrived in for the best cultivation of larvae.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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