California Sea Grant College Program

Many marine natural products and enzymes have important medical applications in the pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnological industries. These compounds and enzymes are at various stages of development, ranging from evaluation of their biological activities, to testing in clinical trials, and to their incorporation into commercial products. Notwithstanding this success, the rise in drug-resistant infections demands new drugs and strategies for eradication or control of invading pathogenic organisms. In addition, early disease detection requires new or more sensitive biochemical diagnostic tools. Solutions to these problems can be provided through discovery of new bioactive compounds, studies of their biogenesis, including endogenous biosynthetic enzyme investigations, and elucidation of their molecular mechanisms of action. Such strategies will allow chemists and pharmacologists, working in a collaborative effort, to pursue the development of novel drugs and diagnostics.