Marine Genetic Resources. A Source of New Drugs The Experience of the Biotechnology Sector

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando de la Calle
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Marine Organisms ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
Scale Production ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process ◽  
The Status

AbstractThis article provides an overview of the conversion of marine genetic resources into new drugs. Three marine organisms suitable for application in human health and steps in the drug discovery process are described. Specific supply problems resulting from the minute concentration of required compounds for medicine in the natural marine source are examined. Three case studies illustrate different strategies enabling an industrial-scale production: chemical synthesis, biotechnology and fermentation. Future concepts for marine scientific research which could lead to new medical applications are considered. Besides research in unexplored deep sea areas, the “metagenomic approach” particularly might lead to significant new achievements. This DNA analysis of marine organisms facilitates the drug discovery process because it requires significantly less marine material than current approaches. Because this process, starting with the search for bioactive molecules and continuing with the production of drug-like molecules before finally reaching the status of medicine, can take up to 20 years, the development of medicine is a very long and risky venture.

scholarly journals Taking chance out of drug discovery

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 40-42
Author(s):  
Simon Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Phenyl Ring ◽  
Reactive Intermediates ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery And Development ◽  
Compound Screening

Searching for bioactive molecules, using rapid compound screening, fragment-based design and unique building blocks, should not be like looking for a needle in a haystack. This article describes a range of innovative and diverse screening compounds for drug discovery and development. Available at both research and development scales, the line includes special products associated with new heterocyclic and phenyl ring-based chemical building blocks, including an exclusive and expanding range of reactive intermediates specifically designed for lead optimization, as well as a growing fragment collection. I explain how these products and services are helping to accelerate the search for bioactive molecules and are shortening the drug discovery process by reducing the element of chance.

scholarly journals Hunting for cures: Genomics and new diseasecontrol strategies

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 19-21
Author(s):  
Michael Ginger
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Potential Drug ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process ◽  
Genomic Technologies ◽  
Potential Drug Targets

New drugs are needed urgently to win the war against parasites that cause many serious diseases that are endemic or resurgent in some of the World's poorest countries. Post-genomic technologies provide a powerful resource that can be exploited during the drug-discovery process. With genome sequencers able to uncover secrets from even the most experimentally intractable of pathogens, the complete and annotated genomes from a number of the most medically important parasites are now, or will soon be, published. Already, the information that has been released from these projects has been put to good use in identifying new potential drug targets.

scholarly journals Future Viable Models of Psychiatry Drug Discovery in Pharma

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 509-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey J. Sukoff Rizzo ◽  
Jeremy R. Edgerton ◽  
Zoë A. Hughes ◽  
Nicholas J. Brandon
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process ◽  
Post Hoc Analysis ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Right ◽  
Post Hoc

The unmet need for the treatment of disorders of the nervous system is growing, and as highlighted in the media and elsewhere, the results of an aging population will ensure this continues with an upward trajectory. Incredibly, the efforts within industry to identify new drugs to treat these conditions have seemingly disappeared despite the growing need. There has been a run of extraordinary failure in the later stages of the drug discovery process for neurological and psychiatric disorders, which has many causes. We believe, though, that we have to confront this dire situation, both by using learnings from the post hoc analysis of our historical failure, as well as harnessing the bewildering array of new technologies and data now available to us, to ensure we are making the right decisions along the very complicated path of drug discovery to registration.

ReAction!

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Griep ◽  
Marjorie L. Mikasen
Keyword(s):  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Chemical Weapons ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process ◽  
Special Effects ◽  
Invisible Man ◽  
Feature Films ◽  
The World ◽  
Chemical Companies

ReAction! gives a scientist's and artist's response to the dark and bright sides of chemistry found in 140 films, most of them contemporary Hollywood feature films but also a few documentaries, shorts, silents, and international films. Even though there are some examples of screen chemistry between the actors and of behind-the-scenes special effects, this book is really about the chemistry when it is part of the narrative. It is about the dualities of Dr. Jekyll vs. inventor chemists, the invisible man vs. forensic chemists, chemical weapons vs. classroom chemistry, chemical companies that knowingly pollute the environment vs. altruistic research chemists trying to make the world a better place to live, and, finally, about people who choose to experiment with mind-altering drugs vs. the drug discovery process. Little did Jekyll know when he brought the Hyde formula to his lips that his personality split would provide the central metaphor that would come to describe chemistry in the movies. This book explores the two movie faces of this supposedly neutral science. Watching films with chemical eyes, Dr. Jekyll is recast as a chemist engaged in psychopharmaceutical research but who becomes addicted to his own formula. He is balanced by the often wacky inventor chemists who make their discoveries by trial-and-error.

scholarly journals Partitioning Pattern of Natural Products Based on Molecular Properties Descriptors Representing Drug-Likeness

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 546
Author(s):  
Miroslava Nedyalkova ◽  
Vasil Simeonov
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Target Prediction ◽  
Natural Compounds ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process ◽  
Unique Source ◽  
The Times ◽  
Partitioning Pattern

A cheminformatics procedure for a partitioning model based on 135 natural compounds including Flavonoids, Saponins, Alkaloids, Terpenes and Triterpenes with drug-like features based on a descriptors pool was developed. The knowledge about the applicability of natural products as a unique source for the development of new candidates towards deadly infectious disease is a contemporary challenge for drug discovery. We propose a partitioning scheme for unveiling drug-likeness candidates with properties that are important for a prompt and efficient drug discovery process. In the present study, the vantage point is about the matching of descriptors to build the partitioning model applied to natural compounds with diversity in structures and complexity of action towards the severe diseases, as the actual SARS-CoV-2 virus. In the times of the de novo design techniques, such tools based on a chemometric and symmetrical effect by the implied descriptors represent another noticeable sign for the power and level of the descriptors applicability in drug discovery in establishing activity and target prediction pipeline for unknown drugs properties.

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