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Biotechnology in the marine sciences
Volume16/Number9/September 1985 physical environment of coastal waters, for students in the physical sciences. The hope is that the contents will form a basis for more rigorous courses in the phenomena discussed in the book. Dealing with each chapter in turn. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the scope of coastal oceanography, and covers the social and economic importance of coastal and shelf waters. Chapter 2 deals with shore processes, including wave refraction and breaking, and the erosion and accretion of sediment. Chapter 3 is concerned with brief descriptions of a large array of phenomena--from ripples to tides (there is even a section on sea sickness and recommended remedies). Bits and pieces of elementary mathematics are scattered throughout this chapter, including an incorrect definition of the mathematical constant pi! Chapter 4 gives a non-mathematical description of the equilibrium theory of the tides; dynamical effects and localized phenomena, such as bores, are also mentioned. Chapter 5 is concerned with the composition of oceanic and estuarine waters, their density variations with temperature and salinity, and temperature-salinity diagrams. There is a fairly useful section on water quality. The major global current systems and their forcing mechanisms are discussed in Chapter 6, although the treatment is too brief to be very useful. The same is true of the discussions given in Chapter 7 on the various oceanic boundary layers. Chapter 8 is concerned with mixing processes, and the definition of Richardson number. The hydrological cycle and coastal meteorology are discussed in Chapter 9. Hydrodynamics and geomorphology of estuaries and reefs are outlined in Chapter 10, including an incorrect definition of the estuarine flushing time. Chapter 11 deals at some length with various direct and remote sensing techniques. Chapter 12 deals with data analysis and elementary aspects of time-series. Finally, Chapter 13 is an essay on ways of assessing the ecological 'health' of the coastal environment. I was left wondering about the educational worth of these last two chapters. This work may best be described as a handbook of general knowledge for persons concerned with the marine environment. A staggering number of topics are covered, most of them at a very superficial level. However, the author does not claim to achieve depth in the material, and the book probably serves the function for which it was designed. I liked the inclusion of a short bibliography at the end of each chapter. On the negative side, I found that the diagram captions were, generally, too brief to be very useful; the figures did not always correspond well with the text, in that they could, occasionally, be much more complicated than was necessary. One disappointment was the relatively small amount of space devoted to Australian waters. There is some mention of the Great Barrier Reef in Chapter 10, and some brief case histories. Eddy structure off western Australia is desribed in Chapter 8, and the Southerly Buster (a low-pressure system which can wreak havoc on Sydney Harbour yacht races) is referred to in Chapter 9. However, much more could have been made of the fact that this is an Australian-based book. R. J. UNCLES
Marine Biotechnology Biotechnology in the Marine Sciences. Proceedings of the First Annual MIT Sea Grant Lecture and Seminar. Rita R. Colwell, E. Ray Pariser and Anthony J. Sinskey (eds). John Wiley & Sons Ltd, U.K. 1984. 292 pp. Price £38.35. ISBN 0 471 88276 3.
Scientific publications to-day fall into three classes. The first is the traditional, widely-applicable or fundamental work which tells us about nature. The second is the narrowly-applicable or ad-hoc science usually carried out for the exclusive benefit or supposed benefit of government or industry. But increasingly we are being offered a third class, the promotional literature written not to report discoveries, but to anticipate them with future funding in mind. This book largely belongs to the third category. Nonetheless, it may be welcomed for one particular reason. Science concerning the sea and marine organisms is relatively poorly researched, somewhat expensive to fund, yet an area with which we are least acquainted and scientifically most ignorant. It also seems to attract least attention and funding from government. For all these reasons it has fallen increasingly behind other areas of science and has hardly ever taken a lead in fundamental innovations, despite the astonishing variety of life forms and its attractiveness to young scientists. This book looks forward to remedying these deficiencies by applying to marine biology many of the new concepts and techniques developed in other fields. Unlike events in the United Kingdom, where the subject is being slimmed down rather than fostered, in the United States there is a relative ferment of activity, thanks to the greater emphasis on postgraduate and postdoctoral research, the greater melding of scientific disciplines, and the multiple sources of support from state, national and industrial funds. It is one of these, the National Sea Grant Program and associated lecture series held at MIT, that has led to the publication of this series of seminars edited by the distinguished marine microbiologist Rita Colwell. In the first chapter she outlies with enthusiasm some of the opportunities presented by the newer techniques, such as gene manipulation and antibody production by hybridoma technology, to select improved, disease resistant stocks for mariculture and new pharmaceuticals. The latter are expected to flow from discovery of many novel metabolites as varied as the life forms from which they have evolved--a virtual medicine chest for entrepreneurial companies not afraid to plough back funds into basic research. Not all the contributions are of this quality and vigour. The reader may well excuse himself from reading the less academic seminars such as those by Gaither, Sinderlar, Richardson, Wetergrove, while those by Ribaud and Webber hardly rank as science. Whiteside and Elliott's contribution exemplifies the cost-effective antipathy towards marine biology, yet could be useful as a devil's advocate against over-optimistic claims in this work. However, their last sentence illustrates how little they appreciate the large part played by serendipity and 373
Marine Pollution Bulletin
speculation in many of the major scientific advances of the past. Leaders of groups engaged in genetic manipulation contribute four useful reviews: Vounakis advocating plasmid insertions to improve plant resistence, Calton on techniques to isolate labile proteins, Kellogg on the production of bacteria with the genes capable of biodegrading persistent insecticides, and Simon et al. who are studying the genes connected with bioadhesion of marine bacteria. It is good to see that the Office of Naval Research supports such advanced investigations. However, these authors perhaps give undue significance to the role of bacteria in fouling. Other contributors point to more classical chemical approaches. Two excellent reviews by Ryther and Cheney emphasize the potential for genetic improvements in commercially useful seaweeds. Renn and Rha discuss the value of plant polysaccharides and chitosan in biotechnology respectively; but one wonders whether rice, with no nutritive content, artificial caviar and synthetic unsweetened orange are of value except to slimmers. Lee and Langer introduce an interesting anti-
374
tumour factor from shark cartilage which acts by discouraging vascularization. Hollick describes the provenance of pro vitamin D from a microalga (known to all but the avant garde taxonomists as Coccolithus huxleyi) and Kiberov validates the use of horse radish peroxidase to remove dangerous aromatics from effluents by oxidative polymerization. Colwell herself describes some currently exciting work of significance to fouling and to mariculture: the interaction between bacteria and invertebrate larvae. It is ironic that advances in this field are now almost entirely a province of the United States marine biologists, since the disbanding by the administration of the Natural Environmental Research Council and the University College of North Wales of the group that initiated and persued these developments in the United Kingdom. This work should be available in all marine laboratories, but the readership most likely to benefit are those in administration responsible for the present disparagement of marine biology. D. J. CRISP
Marine Biotechnology Biotechnology in the Marine Sciences. Proceedings of the First Annual MIT Sea Grant Lecture and Seminar. Rita R. Colwell, E. Ray Pariser and Anthony J. Sinskey (eds). John Wiley & Sons Ltd, U.K. 1984. 292 pp. Price £38.35. ISBN 0 471 88276 3.
Scientific publications to-day fall into three classes. The first is the traditional, widely-applicable or fundamental work which tells us about nature. The second is the narrowly-applicable or ad-hoc science usually carried out for the exclusive benefit or supposed benefit of government or industry. But increasingly we are being offered a third class, the promotional literature written not to report discoveries, but to anticipate them with future funding in mind. This book largely belongs to the third category. Nonetheless, it may be welcomed for one particular reason. Science concerning the sea and marine organisms is relatively poorly researched, somewhat expensive to fund, yet an area with which we are least acquainted and scientifically most ignorant. It also seems to attract least attention and funding from government. For all these reasons it has fallen increasingly behind other areas of science and has hardly ever taken a lead in fundamental innovations, despite the astonishing variety of life forms and its attractiveness to young scientists. This book looks forward to remedying these deficiencies by applying to marine biology many of the new concepts and techniques developed in other fields. Unlike events in the United Kingdom, where the subject is being slimmed down rather than fostered, in the United States there is a relative ferment of activity, thanks to the greater emphasis on postgraduate and postdoctoral research, the greater melding of scientific disciplines, and the multiple sources of support from state, national and industrial funds. It is one of these, the National Sea Grant Program and associated lecture series held at MIT, that has led to the publication of this series of seminars edited by the distinguished marine microbiologist Rita Colwell. In the first chapter she outlies with enthusiasm some of the opportunities presented by the newer techniques, such as gene manipulation and antibody production by hybridoma technology, to select improved, disease resistant stocks for mariculture and new pharmaceuticals. The latter are expected to flow from discovery of many novel metabolites as varied as the life forms from which they have evolved--a virtual medicine chest for entrepreneurial companies not afraid to plough back funds into basic research. Not all the contributions are of this quality and vigour. The reader may well excuse himself from reading the less academic seminars such as those by Gaither, Sinderlar, Richardson, Wetergrove, while those by Ribaud and Webber hardly rank as science. Whiteside and Elliott's contribution exemplifies the cost-effective antipathy towards marine biology, yet could be useful as a devil's advocate against over-optimistic claims in this work. However, their last sentence illustrates how little they appreciate the large part played by serendipity and 373
Marine Pollution Bulletin
speculation in many of the major scientific advances of the past. Leaders of groups engaged in genetic manipulation contribute four useful reviews: Vounakis advocating plasmid insertions to improve plant resistence, Calton on techniques to isolate labile proteins, Kellogg on the production of bacteria with the genes capable of biodegrading persistent insecticides, and Simon et al. who are studying the genes connected with bioadhesion of marine bacteria. It is good to see that the Office of Naval Research supports such advanced investigations. However, these authors perhaps give undue significance to the role of bacteria in fouling. Other contributors point to more classical chemical approaches. Two excellent reviews by Ryther and Cheney emphasize the potential for genetic improvements in commercially useful seaweeds. Renn and Rha discuss the value of plant polysaccharides and chitosan in biotechnology respectively; but one wonders whether rice, with no nutritive content, artificial caviar and synthetic unsweetened orange are of value except to slimmers. Lee and Langer introduce an interesting anti-
374
tumour factor from shark cartilage which acts by discouraging vascularization. Hollick describes the provenance of pro vitamin D from a microalga (known to all but the avant garde taxonomists as Coccolithus huxleyi) and Kiberov validates the use of horse radish peroxidase to remove dangerous aromatics from effluents by oxidative polymerization. Colwell herself describes some currently exciting work of significance to fouling and to mariculture: the interaction between bacteria and invertebrate larvae. It is ironic that advances in this field are now almost entirely a province of the United States marine biologists, since the disbanding by the administration of the Natural Environmental Research Council and the University College of North Wales of the group that initiated and persued these developments in the United Kingdom. This work should be available in all marine laboratories, but the readership most likely to benefit are those in administration responsible for the present disparagement of marine biology. D. J. CRISP