Boundaries (barriers) protect the human body from the environment. So-called barrier organs like the mouth, lungs, skin and intestines protect humans internally from penetration by harmful substances that may occur in the air or in food. Inflammatory diseases are the result when this boundary no longer functions properly. The human body reacts initially through defence mechanisms and if these prove insufficient and the inflammation persists, then chronic diseases ensue, such as Crohn's disease, asthma or neurodermitis. Inflammatory diseases appear to be a phenomenon of modern civilization, given their increasing prevalence.

Biological barriers, which originated in simple marine organisms, are vital to human health. They function either passively (e.g., in bacterial cell walls) or actively, in that a gradient is produced. They often take on important functions, for example, detoxification is carried out in the kidneys.

As opposed to humans, who directly control their environment, marine organisms must constantly adapt to their changing environment. For millions of years they have been under high natural selection pressure and have thus developed great genetic variety in barrier genes. The differing genes in the surface (barrier) of marine organisms will perhaps allows inferences to human barriers and their genetic defects.

Contact

---

• Prof. Philip Rosenstiel

  Institution:

  Institut für Klinische Molekularbiologie

  Phone:

  +49 431 597-4268

  E-mail:

  p.rosenstiel@mucosa.de

• Prof. Stefan Schreiber

  Institution:

  Institut für Klinische Molekularbiologie

  Phone:

  +49 431 597-2350

  E-mail:

  s.schreiber@mucosa.de

• Prof. Julie LaRoche

  Institution:

  GEOMAR | Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

  Phone:

  +49 431 600-4212

  E-mail:

  jlaroche@geomar.de