Finding Chemo: Scanning the Sea Floor for New Drugs
source: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/drugscanning.html
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SANTA CRUZ, California — Seafaring microbes and a room full of robots may be the key to the next big pharmaceutical breakthrough.
Two new compounds, one that kills the parasites that cause African sleeping sickness and one that destroys breast cancer cells, have surfaced in an automated lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A direct pipeline from the ocean to chemical-scanning robots makes it possible for researchers to screen thousands of unstudied chemicals each day.
“These marine sediments could contain the next big anti-cancer drug,” said chemist Scott Lokey, who runs the UC Santa Cruz Chemical Screening Center.
The sea is teeming with microbes, fungi and invertebrates, which produce and use chemicals for everything from defense to communication. Natural compounds are a huge source of inspiration for pharmaceuticals, but most marine chemicals remain unexplored.
Two new compounds, one that kills the parasites that cause African sleeping sickness and one that destroys breast cancer cells, have surfaced in an automated lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A direct pipeline from the ocean to chemical-scanning robots makes it possible for researchers to screen thousands of unstudied chemicals each day.
“These marine sediments could contain the next big anti-cancer drug,” said chemist Scott Lokey, who runs the UC Santa Cruz Chemical Screening Center.
The sea is teeming with microbes, fungi and invertebrates, which produce and use chemicals for everything from defense to communication. Natural compounds are a huge source of inspiration for pharmaceuticals, but most marine chemicals remain unexplored.
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