Clams Casino

A mollusk scientist at the Academy hits the jackpot.

by Will Dean

"I don't think people are aware of how much humans interact with mollusks," says the Academy of Natural Sciences' Gary Rosenberg.

Few summertime shell collectors pause to consider the briny creatures that once lived inside — unless they're hungry. But that could change, thanks to new research, done in part by the Academy of Natural Sciences here in Philly, which points to these ocean denizens as sources of new drugs and fuels.

This particular project, an international and interdisciplinary effort, is looking at mollusks in the Philippines, one of the richest areas in the world in terms of biodiversity of aquatic creatures. Known as the Philippine Mollusk Symbiont International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (PMS-ICBG, for sort of short) project, the research has three parts: collecting and identifying the mollusks of the area; looking at mollusks and the bacteria they harbor for natural compounds for pharmaceuticals; and studying symbiotic bacteria living in mollusks for use in biofuels.

Mollusca is the largest marine phylum and includes a diverse range of creatures such as cephalopods like squid and octopi, gastropods like snails and slugs, and bivalves like clams and oysters. "I think they are often overlooked," says Gary Rosenberg, curator of the Academy's mollusk collection. "I don't think people are aware of how much humans interact with mollusks. Fifteen percent of what the world's fisheries catch is mollusks, not fish."

Rosenberg is heading the collection and identification section of this great mollusk hunt. The project is focused on cataloging mollusks in the Philippines, says Rosenberg. "We're also looking for particular species that have interesting biological properties."

A tall, lean man with a salt-and-pepper beard, Rosenberg has been interested in mollusks since he was a kid. "I started collecting shells when I was 5 years old, going down to the beach in New Jersey, which turns out, for diversity, to be one of the most boring places in the world for mollusks," he laughs.

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Rosenberg's group is setting up an online key that can be used to identify different species of mollusks. This will help other researchers around the world identify native species and recognize new ones faster.

Other segments of the research are being done at the University of the Philippines, the University of Utah and the Oregon Health and Science University. Researchers there are looking for compounds that can help develop anticancer, antimicrobial and central nervous system drugs, as well as new enzymes, known as cellulases, that can break down cellulose into biofuels. "At this point, with so many things being resistant to antibiotics," Rosenberg says, "we really need to find things that work with new mechanisms and completely different classes of compounds."

Focus has shifted to mollusks as a source of new compounds and bacteria for several reasons, including the recent development of Ziconotide, a painkiller developed from the venom of the cone snail by Baldomero Olivera, who is also working on the project at the University of Utah. (For a morbid bit of science, check out the Academy's specimen of a cone snail that killed a man in Guam.)

Mollusks are also a fertile territory for new discoveries, because so many species themselves remain undiscovered. There are more than 10,000 named species in the Philippines, and probably just as many more waiting to be found. "I certainly think we're going to encounter hundreds of new species in this project, if not thousands," says Rosenberg.

(editorial@citypaper.net)