BLUES

🔎 Researcher spotlight: Prof. Baruch (Buki) Rinkevich (Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research) 🔬 A leading marine biologist in regeneration & stem cell biology, he leads BLUES’ work on developing cell lines from marine invertebrates with industrial potential.

🔎 Species spotlight: Chordates! In BLUES, we focus on tunicates—marine invertebrates within this group. With unique compounds, strong regeneration & adaptability, they show promise for cell lines, stem cell research & future cancer treatments. 🧫🌊

🔎 Event watch: @EmTradefair Industry leaders from maritime & inland waterways gather to explore future trends, technical innovations, and solutions for decarbonisation and ecological port transformation. Who’s going?🤔 euromaritime.fr

💙 At BLUES, we tap the power of marine invertebrates to develop ethical, lab-made products—from pharma to vaccines & agrochemicals. Our first focus species? 🌊 Sponges! Their compounds can help fight infections, inflammation, viruses & even cancer. projectblues.eu/species-in-foc…

💧 Event alert! The first Water Resilience Forum is here, uniting policymakers, scientists, industry & civil society to address water scarcity, quality issues & climate impacts. We’re keen to see the outcomes—details below! environment.ec.europa.eu/events/water-r…

Think sponges are boring? 🌊 Think again! Our team joined the World Sponge Conference (9–13 Sept, Portugal) with talks & posters, sharing how these tiny creatures matter for conservation & the climate crisis. More about the event here: worldspongecommunity.com

Last week, we were still enjoying the Portuguese sun, the tasty Bacalhau, and a study visit at the 3B's Research Group premises, courtesy of our Portuguese partners🌞 We used our meeting as an opportunity to go over our tasks and prepare for the review meeting on Thu. Photos⬇️

🌊 World Maritime Day 2025 🌊 Oceans fuel trade, food & climate—but face rising threats. BLUES uses marine biotech to harness ocean potential without harming biodiversity. Today, we celebrate science protecting our seas and driving a sustainable Blue Economy.

We held a presentation at #ISYDES 2025 in Bari on 6 June! 🇮🇹 The event organised by @unibait recognised the emerging importance of deep eutectic solvents in creating innovative solutions across industries. Davey Essers introduced their role in our project's research. 🔬🧪

Why have marine invertebrate cell cultures been failing for decades? Our new publication lists: 1️⃣ Optimization of culture media 2️⃣ Strategies to maintain stemness 3️⃣ Application of omics technologies 4️⃣ Selection of the right cell types Read it here: link.springer.com/article/10.100…

👩‍🔬 From lab to (a sustainable) life - our project is developing innovative #biotech solutions to improve our world... and our health! 🌍 What do we mean by that? And why is our research relevant to you? Click on the link below to find out! 🔬 youtube.com/watch?v=VPWlfw…

We have a paper published! 🥳 Prof. Shirley A. Pomponi and Prof. Buki Rinkevich from our team identified and analysed knowledge gaps in developing cell cultures in vitro - which prevents scientists from advancing knowledge in the field. Check it out 👇 link.springer.com/article/10.100…

🔬 "It's like a game. You start to play with your toys and you never know what will be the end of this. This is the beauty in science." 💙 📹 Check out this episode of our #VoicesOfBLUES series, with Prof. Buki Rinkevich from the Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research:

We're happy to announce that we will take part in the World Sponge Conference #WSC2025 in Portugal, in Sept! 🇵🇹 We'll conduct several oral and poster presentations at this amazing event reuniting experts from natural sciences working to protect this remarkable species!

#MeetTheResearcher 👋 Lara Chrystina Malta Neri of @MatisIceland ! With a multidisciplinary approach, and diverse experience across countries, Lara is working on enzyme characterisation, seaweed bioprocessing, eDNA analysis, and sea cucumber cell cultures. 👩‍🔬

✍️ New blog post alert! Check out our latest article on the exciting trip our colleagues at Matís Iceland conducted to obtain... 6 live sea cucumbers, who were then sheltered in the company's "Barbie incubator". projectblues.eu/news/6/on-the-…

A walk down memory lane, as we are reminiscing our days spent in Genoa in February for our 3rd project meeting, discussing, sharing updates and ideas, advising each other, and ultimately strengthening our bond as a team! 💙 All about it on our blog: 🔗 projectblues.eu/news/5/blues-h…

Happy #WorldWaterDay! 💧 Our planet is interconnected - the melting of glaciers leads to floods, landslides, & droughts. 🌍 It is only with joint efforts and adopting sustainable practices that we'll be able to change that. 🌊 See how we contribute: projectblues.eu/w

Curious to find out more about our project, its methodology, the partners who make up the team, the species we work with, and more importantly - how does our work impact society in the long-run? 🤔 Then you have to check our website! 💻 👉projectblues.eu

Time flies when you're having fun! And work...and lots of focaccia! 😊 On the 2nd part of our meeting in Genoa, we... ☑️Discussed our progress, lessons & mistakes 📝Learned about financial & scientific reporting 🧪Checked out the cells in the bioreactors we tried to innoculate