Medicine from the sea

Around 50% of all medicine which is in use today is based on natural active substances. In most cases these substances come from land organism, primarily from plants.

However it is the oceans which offer a broad array of organism whose use for pharmaceutics has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Corals and sponges for instance produce toxics to protect themselves from being eaten. Laboratory research has shown that these active substances can be used to fight for instance cancer or malaria.

Our internship in the area of pharmaceutics takes place at a research project in Zanzibar which investigates maritime organisms for their usefulness in the fight against malaria. The project is supported by the WHO.

The project can make use of modern and well equipped chemical and biological laboratories, which for instance dispose of a CHN Analyser, a liquid scintillation analyser, a UV Spectrophotometer, various centrifuges and a freeze drier. The institute also has a research aquarium.
 
Besides the laboratory work, dives are part of the research. The institute is well equipped with different boats, SCUBA gear, measurement instruments, GPS etc.

This project can also be useful for BA, MA and PhD dissertations and thesis papers.
 

Info box:

Place: Zanzibar, Tanzania

Duration: 3 - 6 Months

Special qualification required: Yes 

Costs: free of charge (trouble-free package for € 500 is optional)

Accommodation: Not included

Meals: Not included

Not included: Travel, health insurance, visa, work permit