The challenge

Marine ecosystems contain a vast diversity of microorganisms and biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) capable of producing valuable natural products and enzymes.

However, many marine microorganisms remain uncultivated, and numerous biosynthetic pathways are inactive under laboratory conditions. For promising compounds, limited natural supply and difficulties in reconstructing complex biosynthetic pathways remain major barriers to further development.

Our objectives

AIMARIA addresses these challenges through three complementary objectives:

• Unlock marine biosynthetic diversity: Identify and prioritise promising BGCs, enzymes and previously uncultivated microorganisms through AI-guided discovery and cultivation strategies.

• Enable biological production: Develop and validate expression platforms capable of reconstructing complex biosynthetic pathways in engineered microbial hosts and cell-free systems.

• Translate discoveries into applications: Establish sustainable production routes for selected high-value compounds and discover novel bioactive molecules and enzymes.

Expected outcomes

AIMARIA aims to prioritise more than 100 BGCs, establish functional expression systems for selected pathways and characterise novel marine bioactive compounds and enzymes.

The project will also advance selected production processes towards pilot-scale demonstration at Technology Readiness Levels 6–7.

Beyond individual products, AIMARIA seeks to establish a transferable platform connecting computational discovery, biological engineering and sustainable manufacturing.