The seas around Bermuda may hold the answer to some of the world's most baffling diseases.

One of the leaders in this ground-breaking branch of marine science is Dr.

Hank Trapido-Rosenthal, a researcher with the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR).

Now, he has just received confirmation of a special grant to pursue his work from the National Institute of Health -- the first time that BBSR has received funding from this organisation, the largest of its kind in the US.

The grant will enable Dr. Rosenthal and his team to conduct research on Bermuda's marine organisms, some of which may be used for medical purposes.

"There have been some very exciting leads already,'' he says.

His use of the spiny lobster as a model organism for the study of chemical sensors actually began while Dr. Rosenthal was attached to the University of Florida.

The study of how organisms (such as the lobster) detect and respond to certain chemicals in the environment has become one of the `leading edge' fields in neurobiology. He explains that increasing attention has been paid to clinical disorders of taste and smell in humans. Questions are being asked as to why people may become hyper-sensitive to odours during pregnancy, for instance, or when they are taking certain antibiotics. Similarly, people tend to lose sensitivity to smell and taste as they age, or with certain diseases, such as those related to HIV.

For a variety of reasons (expense, ethics, animal rights activists) it has become more difficult for scientists to use vertebrates (such as rats, rabbits, cats) for research purposes. Therefore, says Dr. Rosenthal, the scientific community has, for some time now, been encouraged to use invertebrate organisms, such as lobsters, whenever possible.

"There is a long lead time when you apply for these research grants,'' explains Dr. Rosenthal, so when I came to BBSR, I had to halt my lobster work for the time being.'' Because of this, the NIH-funded lobster project is, in fact, the second research programme at BBSR with biomedical implications.

Dr. Rosenthal is currently involved on a collaborative drug-discovery project with the Corange company, Boehringer-Mannheim. "This looks at all of Bermuda's marine organises -- sponges, corals, etc. -- not just lobsters, for compounds that might have pharmaceutical value.'' He reveals that one of the varieties of sponges found here seems to have a cell-killing activity that might be developed into an anti-cancer drug.

Another one has an anti-inflammatory activity that could be developed for the treatment of arthritis.

Dr. Rosenthal explains that Bermuda's reef environment is extraordinarily valuable for studies like this because most of the world's coral reefs are in much poorer, third-world countries where the reefs have been heavily exploited, and damaged in the process.

"So Bermuda has to take care of its reefs -- they are very precious! We are especially fortunate at BBSR, as we are almost sitting right on these reefs.

this has helped us to assemble a critical mass in this area of research.'' He has reassuring words for those who envision the stripping of resources in these projects. "These days, with all the high-tech available in the biological sciences, there is not danger of scientists going off, finding samples and then grinding them up to produce the compound. What we do now is open very minute samples from the specimen, figure out the chemical and with genetic engineering, we can then train bacteria to make the compound that we have discovered. So we're not de-populating Bermuda's reefs in any way! All you need is about one square centimetre -- about the size of a thumbnail,'' he says.

He goes on to explain that just as satellite oceanography studies are applied high technology on a very large scale, his area of work applies it on a micro-scale. "We are especially interested in the lobster because it is highly dependent on olfactory senses. On dark nights, for instance, they are able to sense their mates, their enemies and their food sources, all by the sense of smell'' The other advantage is that the lobster's `nose' (actually `whips' or `antennae') is easy to work with -- it is clipped off, but it re-grows.

"The really interesting thing about working with marine organisms is that we know they do have biomedical implications but everything that I do also makes a contribution to our overall knowledge of the marine environment and how the whole ecosystem works.'' Dr. Rosenthal is pleased that his research work is also involving Bermudians.

"My co-workers on the NIH project will be technician Lisa Fraser-Smith, who is a graduate of the University of Maryland, and Bermuda Programme student, Holly Holder, a graduate of Duke University.'' Dr. Rosenthal points out that the Biological Station is now providing new career options for some of Bermuda's young people. "If students are interested in the sciences and going on to further education, we now have a training environment (such as the Bermuda Programme) which is just right for them'' Juliet Couper, for instance, has finished her masters at the University of North Carolina and, says, Dr. Rosenthal, has begun her PhD in neurophsyiology under one of his colleagues at the University of Virginia. "There is also Crystal Rogers. Her interest in science education will be very important to the further education of young people here. Then I have Holly Holder working for me this year, and she will remain in my lab as a technician until she goes away to medical school. So, you see, the opportunities here are growing, right along with the research programmes.'' Dr. Rosenthal is also currently teaching a molecular ecology course which, he says, includes some very interesting and talented people. "One of the students is a professor at the University of the Virgin Islands, and also includes graduate students from Britain, the US, Germany, Austria, Trinidad, and Canada. All of these courses form a very important part of our overall aims here and is now one of BBSR's biggest strengths. Even though we are, of course, primarily a research institute, these short intensive teaching courses are now one of our specialities.''