ChiCoBionts, a new FCT-funded research project, exploits the octocoral microbiome in the search for novel chitinases of relevance to global biogeochemical cycling, food waste management, and the smart production of added-value molecules. The project started in January 2022, is funded with 50,000 euros, and aims to discover, express, and characterise novel chitinases and chitinolytic microbes with the potential to outperform current commercial enzymes and to foster the development of blue biotechnology for chitin waste. The ChiCoBionts team consists of DBE members from iBB-BSRG and iBB-BERG, including Doctor Tina Keller-Costa (PI), Prof Ângela Taipa (Co-PI), Prof Carla de Carvalho and Prof Rodrigo Costa, in addition to ITQB researcher Doctor Nuno Borges and collaborators from the University of Brussels, Belgium.