VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University students under the guidance of professor Dr. Thomas J. Manning and assistance from two GIFT teachers — Cody Moncrief from Valdosta Middle School and Maurice Leroux from Moultrie — have been building and testing underwater Remote Operated Vehicles.

The ROVs are designed to collect sediment samples, pull plankton nets, support cameras and trap large molecules from the water.

“The vehicles have multiple purposes,” said Moncrief.

While Moncrief and undergraduate students — including Jessica Hackney, Kim London and Allison Fritzche — built ROVs to collect sediments to demonstrate the detrimental environmental effects of chemicals used by humans, other larger and more efficient ROVs were used for a project called Cancer Drugs from the Sea.

“We’re going down to the bottom of the ocean about 150 to 160 feet,” said Ted West, a VSU graduate who returned for this project.

Back in the 1930s and 1940s, John Steinbeck published a series of books — the non-fiction “Sea of Cortez” and the novels “Cannery Row,” and “Sweet Thursday” that featured a fictitious, marine collector named Doc who lived on the coast.

In the 1960s, Steinbeck befriended Jack Rudloe, a marine creature fanatic from Panacea, Fla. Steinbeck encouraged Rudloe to open the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab that parallels Doc’s fictional lab.

Rudloe opened the lab in the 1960s. A few years later, the head of the National Cancer Institute called for his help. He wanted Rudloe to send marine species for testing against cancer. Over the next eight years, Rudloe sent the Cancer Institute more than 300 marine species.

Extracts from the species were tested against all lines of cancer. The species that stood out was Bugula neritina, one of 5,000 different species of bryozao. It is a sessile

filter eater that appears a few months every year in certain locations.

Rudloe first got his Bugula from Alligator Point, Fla. The area has a unique level of organics as well as species such as iron, chromium and limestone. However, most importantly, Bugula produces bryostatin, a large molecule that is produced by a symbiotic bacteria that resides within or on Bugula.

Bryostatin, which is worth about $5 million to $7 million per gram, has the potential to treat leukemia and improve memory, with benefits both cancer and Alzheimer’s patients. Bryostatin, as well as the vast majority of other marine bacteria, are either impossible or extremely difficult to grow in an environment outside of the ocean. Thus, Manning and students at VSU have developed methods to farm them in the ocean.

The research team seed buckets with nutrient-laced sponges and sediment, and place them in the sea.

“Dr. Manning came up with this formula to put on the sponges,” said West.

The process lures the bryozoans and other microscopic marine life to the buckets and effectively farms them so they can easily be collected. Student-built ROVs collect samples underwater and scout the best locations for the buckets.

“For years ... we would go down and get sediment samples for testing,” said Manning.

The problem came in the winter. The cold water made it difficult to collect samples.

“This will let us do it a lot easier,” said Manning.

In just three weeks, they are able to capture enough bryozoans to extract 10 milligrams of bryostatin from each bucket. With 10 buckets, they can recover 100 milligrams, which is the amount needed to send to the National Cancer Institute for clinical trials. This concept developed by VSU students and Manning is called Pharmaceutical Agriculture or “farming the ocean.”

The participating 25 students’ majors range from chemistry, biology and even business. They partnered with the University of Georgia, the National Magnet Lab, the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab and the National Cancer Institute. The project was divided into three parts: Synthetic approaches, delivery methods and building new tools to help with the first two parts. The team’s aim is to create affordable access to pharmaceuticals, to provide tools for discovery, and to do it all in a sustainable manner.

Aside from building ROVs and collecting numerous samples to aid in research on a global scale, teams at VSU have also filed two U.S. Patents, given more than a dozen presentations, published one paper in a peer review journal and are working on publishing a second.  

Aside from world being able to potentially benefit from this research, Moultrie schools and the Valdosta City School System will benefit through the implementation of the science from these ROVs, thanks to Moncrief and Leroux.

“I’m creating my own action plan,” said Moncrief.

Moncrief, and eighth-grade math teacher, will partner with the science department and Valdosta High School to accomplish a level of inquiry learning. ROV vehicles are built using a kit that costs approximately $100.

“I’m going to try to apply for a grant to get my own,” said Moncrief.

Through Moncrief’s work with VSU and further work with his students, he hopes to find ways to do more with less money.

This work was presented in Washington D.C. at the National Green Technology Expo in April and was singled out and covered in Popular Mechanics magazine.