Historically, pharmaceuticals were discovered by mere happenstance. Traditionally plants were the major source of drug therapies. Different parts of the plant (e.g. roots, rhizome, leaves, seeds, flowers) would be used to make crude extracts. It wasn’t until 1928 when Dr. Alexander Fleming discovered the antibiotic properties of Penicillium notatum that the use of metabolites from microbes would bring about a huge change in the drug discovery model (Rubin, R.P., 2007). In more recent times, the identification of active ingredients from traditional therapies has led to the purification of crude extracts and increased drug potency. With the development of computer software and modern biotechnology techniques, screening millions of compounds has become incredibly easy. Chemists then attempt to modify potential target chemicals in order to produce a drug that has the desired effect with little cytotoxicity. However, this technique is lengthy, expensive and inefficient. The most recent model has been to revert back to natural products or semisynthetic drugs.
Many of the traditional sources of natural products have been exploited, however a relatively untapped source of natural products come from marine derived microbes, specifically marine sediment bacteria. The vast diversity of the world’s marine environments creates the potential for incredible biodiversity among microorganisms that take up residence there. Because many of the natural products of biological significance is due to a microbes need to compete with in its surrounding, this extreme diversity creates an incredible potential for discovery.
In recent years there has been a relatively large interest in marine microbes and as such some incredible natural products have ...
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S.marcescens is viable enough to flourish on standard media with the production of a pigment, which characteristically ranges from a red to a dark pink shade. Through its pathway of synthesis, Prodigiosin is formed as an alkaloid secondary metabolite with a linear tripyrrole chemical structure (figure 1), (Samrot et al, 2011). Secondary metabolites are natural products and also by-products of metabolism.(Vaishnav and Demain, 2011).
Pharmaceuticals have examined and found to ”work by changing the biological functions of the target cells in the body through chemical agents“ (Doweiko, 2015, p. 16). ”Many people in the past have thought that drugs that
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...id, acetic acid, formic acid, H₂ and CO₂ as fermentation products which increases ecological, industrial and basic bioenergetics interests in this particularly thermophilic bacterial specie.
Throughout many generations the success of medicine has been dog-eared throughout history, from penicillin being created through colonized bacteria on an agar plate to chemotherapy being used to combat the ailments of cancer, we as a society rely a great deal on the effectiveness of medicine. Due to this realization one can agree that it is imperative that the medications that are being distributed and placed on the pharmaceutical market are tested and analyzed at all angles and perspectives to ensure they work effectively and successfully resulting in moderate to no side effects. The progressive industry of medicine has greatly increased since the early nineties thanks to the advancement in medical technology making
In any production of certain metabolites or products in fungal life cycle, two phases of metabolism must involve which are primary and secondary metabolisms. In this new and modern era, fungal biotechnology has evolved and developed in order to allow a commercially fungal utilization of the metabolic processes in a viable manner. To conclude, fungi have contributed a lot in economy significantly. This included in the industries of chemical commodities, antibiotics, enzymes, vitamins, pharmaceutical compounds, fungicides, plant growth regulators, hormones and proteins.
“This knowledge will help us design drugs that mimic the viral effects on these proteins to either activate a host’s immune response or shut it down,” said Dr. Michael Gale, associate ...
All in all we are able to understand the significance of prokaryotes, not merely to the human species, but to other species and organisms as well. These prokaryotes are the inventors of biochemical pathways and contain an extreme biochemical diversity which has enabled them to survive and succeed as a kingdom on its own.
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The influence of human activity concerning marine chemistry has numerous negative effects on the marine environment.
Pre-discovery process is the first stage of drug discovery. During Pre-discovery stage chemists and pharmacologists endeavor to understand and identify the factors which can play a significant role in the particular disease. After revealing the cause of disease or understanding it a target molecule against which drug will act is being chosen. In order to understand the structure the target molecule is eliminated, isolated and its various interactions are inquired. Understanding interactions of the molecule can be helpful in finding treatment of a specific disease. Next stage includes the demonstration that the chosen molecule is relevant to the disease and proof that the drug target is associated with a desired change in the behavior of diseased cells (PPD, 2011).