LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) - UMR 7266

Viruses remain a major global health threat, causing millions of deaths annually. Current antiviral therapies rely on drugs that often lead to side effects and drug resistance due to viral mutations and limited mechanisms of action. In contrast, biomaterials such as alginate and chitosan offer alternative antiviral strategies by adsorbing viruses, blocking virus–cell interactions, disrupting viral structures, and inhibiting viral replication and release. These mechanisms reduce the risk of resistance and enhance therapeutic potential. The marine environment, rich in chemically diverse compounds, is a promising source of bioactive molecules. Marine bacteria, adapted to extreme and competitive habitats, produce unique metabolites with antimicrobial, anticancer, and antiviral activities. This PhD project aims to harness these marine-derived metabolites, integrating them with natural biopolymers to develop safe, effective antiviral biomaterials for biomedical applications.