'Blue drugstore' rises from the ocean depths

Eighty-year-old scientist Guan Huashi is steering an independent research team to find cures for diseases, and his source is the ocean.

Guan and his team, based in Qingdao, Shandong province, plan to develop several new medicines mainly derived from marine organisms in the next three to five years.

As a pioneer of marine pharmaceutical studies, Guan, a professor at the Ocean University of China, in 1985 led a team that successfully developed the country's first marine drug, called PSS. The drug helps to treat vascular diseases related to the heart and brain.