China has succeeded in sending a man into space, but Chinese scientists are also looking down, into the ocean depths, to tap resources for medicine.

A state-level research program is underway to discover how microbes survive in extreme conditions in the ocean, as part of the 863 High-Tech Program (initiated in March 1986), the nation's priority science development plan.

The research, being carried out by Zhejiang University, in the coastal province of Zhejiang, aims to find natural bio-active substances in marine life that live in extreme environments in deep water.

Many micro-organisms thrive around thermal areas, where the temperature is well above boiling, and survive tremendous water pressure thousands of meters below the surface and huge amounts of heavy metals.

The research on the microbe's life systems and the medical benefits would produce large and profound changes in the bio-medicine industry, Yang Weijun, a marine life expert, said at the 21st Century Free Forum of Life Science in Zhejiang.

The importance of ocean resources, and medicines made from them, is coming under increasing international scrutiny. Oceans contain 80 percent of the earth's resources, and can provide a wide diversity of materials for medical use. Moreover, extreme deep sea conditions accommodate a lot of marine life with many pharmaceutical usages.

In China, many enterprises are taking part in the research and development of ocean medicine. Hundreds of natural products from the seas have been studied and have entered into clinical use.

(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2003)