Editorial for Planta Medica Special Issue Marine Natural Products

Oceans cover 70 % of Earthʼs surface and encompass over 90 % of the known biosphere volume. When considering the half of the drugs used today originate from Nature, it is obvious that the potential of marine biological resources for biodiscovery exceeds any other environment on Earth. The exploration of this rich environment over the past 50 years has led to the discovery of over 25,000 marine natural products (MNPs), some of which have been developed into life-saving drugs, or into other products that increase the well-being and life quality of human. Many more marine derived molecules are undergoing clinical trials while hundreds of MNPs are in the preclinical stage against many diseases, particularly cancer.