Antarctic Microalgae Producing UV Protectants

Greetings, I am Professor Turgay ÇAKMAK, the head of the Molecular Biology and Genetics Department within the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences at Istanbul Medeniyet University. Our department is actively engaged in research projects supported by TÜBİTAK, focusing on cancer biology drug research, neurodegenerative diseases, and algae biotechnology. Currently, I am leading a research project in the field of algae biotechnology. Algae, whether microscopic or macroscopic, form an ancient group that has adapted to diverse environments, ranging from caves and mountains to hot springs, freshwaters, seas, lakes, deserts, and polar regions, wherever water and humidity are abundant. In my ongoing project, I participated in the fourth National Antarctic Expedition in 2020. With a TÜBİTAK project that I prepared at that time, I collected samples of microscopic algae from Honshu Island in Antarctica, where our country's scientific research base was being established. These samples were subsequently brought to our laboratory, where we characterized them both molecularly and morphologically, and analyzed their compositional features.
During the sampling process, we discovered that Honshu Island, our research location, experiences the highest level of UV (ultraviolet) radiation exposure. As a result, we primarily focused on investigating the potential of the collected microscopic algae in producing UV-protective agents, leading to remarkable findings. We identified algae species with significant potential for crop production. Subsequently, we formulated a new TÜBİTAK project. This project, initiated in October 2022, aims to evaluate the capability of isolated microscopic algae from Antarctica in producing UV-protective active compounds and exploring their potential for product development in this field. In another exciting development, as you may already be aware, our country is preparing to send its first astronaut to space in November. In this context, TÜBİTAK has announced project calls, and as part of this initiative, we plan to send five different microscopic algae, including two from Antarctica (collected in 2020) and another isolated from Çanakkale, to the International Space Station. This unique environment will provide an opportunity to study the growth potential and product production of our various microalgae under altered conditions, devoid of gravity. I warmly welcome students interested in conducting research in the field of algae biotechnology to join my laboratory.