Production of heparin look-alikes

Aquatic organisms produce diverse and complex polysaccharides, many of which have heparin-like activity. This compound, which has anti-coagulant activity, is essential for surgical interventions and the treatment of various diseases, and is a mature market worth more than 2 billion dollars a year. Heparin is extracted from the viscera of mammals such as pigs and cows, but it could also be extracted from the viscera of aquatic invertebrates such as the golden mussel. This is the focus of our new project