Red Sea Brine Pools represent some of the most extreme environments on earth characterized by elevated temperatures,lack of oxygen,high concentrations of heavy metals,high salinity,and steep gradients.Cultivation-independent studies showed that these environments harbor unusual micro-organisms,some of which presenting novel phyla specific to brine pools.We were also trying to isolate novel heterotrophic and autotrophic organisms and investigated them for diverse potential biotechnological applications,including carbon dioxide sequestration.Our group took part in the KAUST expedition in Fall 2011 and sampled 5 brine pools(Nereus,Erba,Discovery Deep,Atlantis Ⅱ,and Kebrit),all of which differ substantially in their physico-chemical profiles and microbial community composition.So far,we isolated 751 strains from the five brines.An analysis of the 16S of the isolates showed that most of the isolates belonged to different species of 36 genera(Idiomarina,Marinobacter,Chromohalobacter,Halomonas,Halanaerobium,Halobacillus,Zunongwangia,Halanaerocella,Alcanivorax,Rhodobacter,Halogranum sp.,Haloferax sp.,Halothiobacillus sp.,Microbulbifer sp.,Nesiotobacter sp.,Pontibacter sp.,Ponticoccus sp.,Ruegeria sp.,Silicibacter sp.,vibrio sp.,Thiomicrospira sp.,etc,),with 12 of them representing potential novel species and genera specific to the brines.The isolates were tested in an anti-cancer screening,and were also tested for the production of enzymes degrading cellulose,petroleum,and aromatic compounds,all of which played an important role in ecological balance of the brines and were of high commercial interest.Based on this study it can be concluded that brine pools are populated with diverse culturable bacterial groups,and that the isolates are potential anti-cancer for commercial applications and sources of extremely stable enzymes.