Drugs from the Indian seas - more expectations

摘要

Disease emergence has quadrupled over the past 50 years. Outbreaks of ebola, meningitis, SARS, bird flu and swine flu have been witnessed and we are defenceless. Diseases like HIV/AIDS, pest-transmitted diseases, cancer, Alzheimer’s, etc. have made doctors desperately seek out new drugs. Moreover, insensible use of antibiotics has resulted in antimicrobial resistance and is seriously questioning the drug effectiveness, thus threatening prevalent drug prescription strategies. Drug hunters need to look into new areas, away from terrestrial resources. Drugs from the sea are as much a potential marine resource as fish, and mineral deposits1. Exploration of the sea and its organisms is still at a relatively early stage in India. There are some 11,000 marine-derived natural products compared with more than 155,000 natural,terrestrial products. Only 5% of the marine environment has been described and 500,000–5,000,000 species (mostly microorganisms) remain undiscovered, representing a huge potential source of new drug leads. Marine organisms have evolved biochemical and physiological mechanisms that include the production of bioactive compounds for purposes such as reproduction, communication, and protection against predation, infection and competition2. Thus oceans represent an untapped source of new medicines3 and will be the new frontiers for drug discovery in this century.