Question: Do you think that there are possible medical cures that may never be discovered because they are to deep underwater or in such a dangerous area we can not reach them?

Sylvia Soldatou answered on 19 May 2020:

I’m sure there is a lot of unexlored organisms and chemistry underwater!
My field is marine natural products chemistry; we basically try to discover new molecules from marine organisms such as sponges, corals and seaweeds. We are also interested in studying the chemistry produced by marine microorganisms that live withing the tissue of a marine organism, in marine sediments and in water columns. When the field of marine natural products cehmistry started in the late 60s, scientists were collecting shallow water sponges and corals in warm waters (Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean etc). With the development of SCUBA diving equipment, scientists were able to dive even deeper and in cold waters (Antarctica, Arctic Ocean) and new species and new chemistry was discovered. Further technological advancements, have allowed us to reach the deepest point of the Oceans which is called Mariana Trench (11 Km deep) from which sediments samples were collected by ROVs and microorganisms have been isolated. These microorganisms produce exciting chemistry with promising biological activities.
There are almost 1 million microorganisms per 1 g of marine sediment and the oceans cover 70% of the Earth’s surface, so I am sure it will be impossible to cover the whole seabed and isolate every single microorganism that lives there!