Strategies and methods for a sustainable search for bioactive compounds

Change in global climate has been predicted to affect future society in different ways. Destruction of rain forests and pollution of the oceans are serious threats against the ecosystem and the access and sustainable use of natural resources both as food and for future discovery of bioactive compounds. A global awareness of the biodiversity predicament have resulted in several international conventions with the purpose of protecting their natural resources but also to create new possibilities for the development of knowledge-based bioeconomy by securing intellectual property rights for ethnic groups.

In this lecture we want to emphasize the connection between biology and chemistry, discuss limitations in today's research, and suggest some strategies and methods for a sustainable search for bioactive natural products. The ultimate purpose being to secure molecules with natural origin as potential leads in drug development and also to reveal potential new targets.

Discovery of novel structure-activity relationships in nature has an increased importance for inspiration of synthesis of natural product like compounds resulting in greater diversity but with less complexity and increased understanding of biological processes. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary in order to discover, describe, and communicate the richness of nature to overcome threats against biodiversity and the future sustainable use of natural resources for discovery of new bioactive compounds.

References: Bohlin L., Alsmark C. et al. (2012) Bioactive compounds from natural sources; Natural products as lead compounds in drug discovery. Chapter 1 pp 1–36. Ed. Corrado Tringali. CRC Press, USA.