Editing Tunicate (section)

==Use by humans==

===Medical uses===
Tunicates contain a host of potentially useful [[chemical compound]]s, including:
* [[Plitidepsin]], a didemnin effective against various types of cancer; as of late January 2021 undergoing Phase III trials as a treatment for COVID-19<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2021/01/25/international-team-finds-new-more-effective-drug-treat-covid-19/6673529002/ |title=International team of scientists identifies new treatment for COVID-19 that appears to be far more effective than drugs in use now |first=Mark |last=Johnson |website=Journal Sentinel}}</ref>
* [[Trabectedin]], an FDA approved anticancer drug.
<!-- In the May 2007 issue of the ''FASEB'' journal, researchers from [[Stanford University]] showed that -->Tunicates are able to correct their own cellular abnormalities over a series of generations, and a similar [[regeneration (biology)|regenerative]] process may be possible for humans. The mechanisms underlying the phenomenon may lead to insights about the potential of cells and tissues to be reprogrammed and to regenerate compromised human organs.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Stem cells : from hydra to man |date=2008 |publisher=Springer |last=Bosch |first=Thomas C. G. |isbn=9781402082740 |location=Dordrecht |oclc=233972733}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070424093740.htm |title=Sea Squirt, Heal Thyself: Scientists Make Major Breakthrough in Regenerative Medicine |publisher=Sciencedaily.com |date=2007-04-24 |access-date=2011-12-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kürn |first1=Ulrich |last2=Rendulic |first2=Snjezana |last3=Tiozzo |first3=Stefano |last4=Lauzon |first4=Robert J. |date=August 2011 |title=Asexual Propagation and Regeneration in Colonial Ascidians |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/BBLv221n1p43 |journal=The Biological Bulletin |language=en |volume=221 |issue=1 |pages=43–61 |doi=10.1086/BBLv221n1p43 |pmid=21876110 |s2cid=37526690 |issn=0006-3185|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===As food===
{{main|Ascidiacea#Culinary}}
[[Image:SeaSquirt.jpg|''[[Halocynthia]]'' tunicates for sale at a market, [[Busan]], [[South Korea]]|thumb]]

Various [[Ascidiacea]] species are consumed as food around the world. The ''piure'' (''[[Pyura chilensis]]'') is used in the [[cuisine of Chile]], both raw and in seafood stews. In Japan and Korea, the [[sea pineapple]] (''Halocynthia roretzi'') is the main species eaten. It is cultivated on dangling cords made of [[Arecaceae|palm fronds]]. In 1994, over 42,000 tons were produced, but since then, mass mortality events have occurred among the farmed sea squirts (the tunics becoming soft), and only 4,500 tons were produced in 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.noaa.gov/retiredsites/korea/main_species/sea_squirt.htm |title=Sea squirt |publisher=Korea-US Aquaculture |access-date=2013-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302122523/http://www.lib.noaa.gov/retiredsites/korea/main_species/sea_squirt.htm |archive-date=2 March 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Other uses===
The use of tunicates as a source of [[biofuel]] is being researched. The cellulose body wall can be broken down and converted into [[ethanol]], and other parts of the animal are protein-rich and can be converted into fish feed. Culturing tunicates on a large scale may be possible and the economics of doing so are attractive. As tunicates have few predators, their removal from the sea may not have profound ecological impacts. Being sea-based, their production does not compete with food production as does the cultivation of land-based crops for biofuel projects.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cleantechnica.com/2013/03/26/biofuel-made-from-marine-filter-feeders-tunicates-usable-as-source-of-biofuels/ |title=Biofuel made from marine filter feeders? Tunicates usable as source of biofuels |date=2013-03-26 |work=Cleantechnica |access-date=2013-04-06}}</ref>

Some tunicates are used as [[model organism]]s. ''[[Ciona intestinalis]]'' and ''[[Ciona savignyi]]'' have been used for [[developmental biology|developmental studies]]. Both species' mitochondrial<ref name="pmid17640763">{{cite journal |author1=Iannelli, F. |author2=Pesole, G. |author3=Sordino, P. |author4=Gissi, C. |title=Mitogenomics reveals two cryptic species in ''Ciona intestinalis'' |journal=Trends Genet. |volume=23 |issue=9 |pages=419–422 |year=2007 |pmid=17640763 |doi=10.1016/j.tig.2007.07.001 |url=https://air.unimi.it/retrieve/handle/2434/63110/244706/gissi_tig_supp.pdf |hdl=2434/63110 |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="pmid14738316">{{cite journal |author1=Yokobori, S. |author2=Watanabe, Y. |author3=Oshima, T. |title=Mitochondrial genome of ''Ciona savignyi'' (Urochordata, Ascidiacea, Enterogona): Comparison of gene arrangement and tRNA genes with ''Halocynthia roretzi'' mitochondrial genome |journal=J. Mol. Evol. |volume=57 |issue=5 |pages=574–587 |date=2003 |pmid=14738316 |doi=10.1007/s00239-003-2511-9 |bibcode=2003JMolE..57..574Y |s2cid=19474615 }}</ref> and nuclear<ref name="pmid12481130">{{cite journal |author=Dehal, P.; Satou, Y.; Campbell, R. K.; Chapman, J., Degnan, B., De Tomaso, A.; Davidson, B.; Di Gregorio, A.; Gelpke, M.; Goodstein, D. M.; Harafuji, N.; Hastings, K. E.; Ho, I.; Hotta, K.; Huang, W.; Kawashima, T.; Lemaire, P.; Martinez, D.; Meinertzhagen, I. A.; Necula, S.; Nonaka, M.; Putnam, N.; Rash, S.; Saiga, H.; Satake, M.; Terry, A.; Yamada L.; Wang, H. G.; Awazu, S.; Azumi, K.; Boore, J.; Branno, M.; Chin-Bow, S.; DeSantis, R.; Doyle, S., Francino, P.; Keys, D. N.; Haga, S.; Hayashi, H.; Hino, K.; Imai, K. S.; Inaba, K.; Kano, S.; Kobayashi, K.; Kobayashi, M.; Lee, B. I.; Makabe, K. W.; Manohar, C.; Matassi, G.; Medina, M.; Mochizuki, Y.; Mount, S.; Morishita, T.; Miura, S.; Nakayama, A.; Nishizaka, S.; Nomoto, H.; Ohta, F.; Oishi, K.; Rigoutsos, I.; Sano, M.; Sasaki, A.; Sasakura, Y.; Shoguchi, E.; Shin-i, T.; Spagnuolo, A.; Stainier, D.; Suzuki, M. M.; Tassy, O.; Takatori, N.; Tokuoka, M.; Yagi, K.; Yoshizaki, F.; Wada, S.; Zhang C.; Hyatt, P. D.; Larimer, F.; Detter, C.; Doggett, N.; Glavina, T.; Hawkins, T.; Richardson, P.; Lucas, S.; Kohara, Y.; Levine, M.; Satoh, N.; Rokhsar, D. S. |name-list-style=amp |title=The draft genome of ''Ciona intestinalis'': insights into chordate and vertebrate origins |journal=Science |volume=298 |issue=5601 |pages=2157–2167 |year=2002 |pmid=12481130 |doi=10.1126/science.1080049 |title-link=Ciona intestinalis |bibcode=2002Sci...298.2157D |citeseerx=10.1.1.319.2643 |s2cid=15987281 }}</ref><ref name= pmid17374142>{{cite journal |author1=Small, K. S. |author2=Brudno, M. |author3=Hill, M. M. |author4=Sidow, A. |title=A haplome alignment and reference sequence of the highly polymorphic ''Ciona savignyi'' genome |journal=Genome Biol. |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=R41 |date=2007 |pmid=17374142 |doi=10.1186/gb-2007-8-3-r41 |pmc=1868934 |doi-access=free }}</ref> genomes have been sequenced. The nuclear genome of the appendicularian ''[[Oikopleura dioica]]'' appears to be one of the smallest among metazoans<ref name=pmid11752568>{{cite journal |author1=Seo, H. C. |author2=Kube, M. |author3=Edvardsen, R. B. |author4=Jensen, M. F. |author5=Beck, A. |author6=Spriet, E. |author7=Gorsky, G. |author8=Thompson. E. M. |author9=Lehrach, H. |author10=Reinhardt, R. |author11=Chourrout, D. |title=Miniature genome in the marine chordate ''Oikopleura dioica'' |journal=Science |volume=294 |issue=5551 |pages=2506 |year=2001 |pmid=11752568 |doi=10.1126/science.294.5551.2506 }}</ref> and this species has been used to study gene regulation and the evolution and development of chordates.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Clarke | first1=T. | last2=Bouquet | first2=JM  | last3=Fu  | first3=X | last4=Kallesøe | first4=T. | last5=Schmid | first5=M | last6=Thompson | first6=E.M. | title=Rapidly evolving lamins in a chordate, ''Oikopleura dioica'', with unusual nuclear architecture | journal=Gene | volume=396 |issue=1 | year=2007 | pages=159–169 | doi=10.1016/j.gene.2007.03.006 | pmid=17449201 }}</ref>