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Biotechnology
National Sea Grant Goals: Encourage and support a wide range of freshwater and marine biotechnology research for (1) restoring and protecting aquatic ecosystems; (2) improving risk characterization of toxicants to aquatic animal life; (3) enhancing aquaculture and seafood safety, and (4) developing new pharmaceuticals, biomaterials and bioprocesses.
From a scientific standpoint and particularly in Wisconsin, the study of freshwater aquatic organisms provides an essential complement to studies of marine organisms. For the Great Lakes region—which already supports a vibrant and growing biotechnology industry— biotechnology offers new opportunities for addressing such problems as toxic contaminants in Great Lakes fish and sediments, controlling nonindigenous species, and enhancing production at public game fish hatcheries and private bait and food fish farms.
Because persistent toxic chemical contaminants constitute a continuous threat to the health of Great Lakes aquatic life and fish consumers alike, it is a Wisconsin Biotechnology Theme priority to develop more accurate approaches for assessing and predicting the risks to feral fish populations exposed to persistent, bioaccumulative chemical contaminants; specifically, to develop gene microarrays in fish for identifying alterations in gene expression associated with chemical and physical stresses.
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