natural marine products also have a very long history as frequent ingredients in
Oriental medicine and folk remedies.
Marine environments form distinctive ecosystems that differ from those on land.
The secondary metabolites developed by marine organisms to stay alive in the
competition for survival of the fittest—particularly those lacking physical defense
capabilities—are often quite different chemically from those of land-based organisms. While these secondary metabolites are understood to have been developed as
a means of chemical defense, the substances also exhibit powerful bioactivity when
introduced into humans and other mammals. For this reason, research into the
development of new leading bioactive materials from marine organisms and their
use toward human health has been the focus of recent attention.
Early studies into marine natural products consisted mainly of simple phytochemical studies motivated by academic curiosity. As the final goal has shifted to
the development of marine-based pharmaceuticals, the trend has moved toward
multidisciplinary research into bioactive ingredients involving a number of different
areas, including pharmacology, ecology, biochemistry, and medicine. Pharmacological research into marine natural products has also expanded from early studies
of toxicity (including tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin) toward various forms of pharmacological activity, including anti-cancer (cell toxicity), antiviral, and
antiinflammatory properties (Fanning et al. 2011).
Pharmacological research groups investigating the bioactivity of marine natural
products have not been especially diverse, their primary focus being on a few forms
of activity such as anticancer, antiviral, antiinflammatory, and antibacterial effects.
While it is difficult to reach any definite conclusions, research reports to date have
uncovered bioactivity in terms of anticancer (cell toxicity) and antiviral effects in
marine natural products with great frequency.
A number of barriers must be cleared before a pioneering bioactive substance
discovered in or chemically synthesized from natural products can be developed
into a commercial item. In sheer probabilistic terms, only a few of the tens of
thousands of candidate substances ever reach the final development stage. In the
case of marine natural products (as opposed to land-based products), there is the
additional obstacle of securing resources. In addition to the quantities needed for the
pre-clinical and clinical stages, consideration in developing items for pharmaceutical production must also be given to whether 100% of the necessary resources for
pharmaceutical development can be obtained.
In terms of the ability to obtain resources, pioneering bioactive substances from
marine sources can be classified into two categories: those for which source
organisms can be cultured or farmed, and those for which they cannot. Numerous
other practical barriers also exist, although large quantities of source materials can
theoretically be obtained through mass culturing.
Culturing marine microorganisms entails a number of difficulties. Examples
included whether strains only grow at low cell densities, whether culturing requires
high saline concentrations that can lead to corrosion in production facilities, or
whether suitable growth can only be maintained at low temperatures, resulting in
longer culturing times (and, by extension, longer production times) and a greater
230
8 Developing Functional Materials with Marine Organisms
Oriental medicine and folk remedies.
Marine environments form distinctive ecosystems that differ from those on land.
The secondary metabolites developed by marine organisms to stay alive in the
competition for survival of the fittest—particularly those lacking physical defense
capabilities—are often quite different chemically from those of land-based organisms. While these secondary metabolites are understood to have been developed as
a means of chemical defense, the substances also exhibit powerful bioactivity when
introduced into humans and other mammals. For this reason, research into the
development of new leading bioactive materials from marine organisms and their
use toward human health has been the focus of recent attention.
Early studies into marine natural products consisted mainly of simple phytochemical studies motivated by academic curiosity. As the final goal has shifted to
the development of marine-based pharmaceuticals, the trend has moved toward
multidisciplinary research into bioactive ingredients involving a number of different
areas, including pharmacology, ecology, biochemistry, and medicine. Pharmacological research into marine natural products has also expanded from early studies
of toxicity (including tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin) toward various forms of pharmacological activity, including anti-cancer (cell toxicity), antiviral, and
antiinflammatory properties (Fanning et al. 2011).
Pharmacological research groups investigating the bioactivity of marine natural
products have not been especially diverse, their primary focus being on a few forms
of activity such as anticancer, antiviral, antiinflammatory, and antibacterial effects.
While it is difficult to reach any definite conclusions, research reports to date have
uncovered bioactivity in terms of anticancer (cell toxicity) and antiviral effects in
marine natural products with great frequency.
A number of barriers must be cleared before a pioneering bioactive substance
discovered in or chemically synthesized from natural products can be developed
into a commercial item. In sheer probabilistic terms, only a few of the tens of
thousands of candidate substances ever reach the final development stage. In the
case of marine natural products (as opposed to land-based products), there is the
additional obstacle of securing resources. In addition to the quantities needed for the
pre-clinical and clinical stages, consideration in developing items for pharmaceutical production must also be given to whether 100% of the necessary resources for
pharmaceutical development can be obtained.
In terms of the ability to obtain resources, pioneering bioactive substances from
marine sources can be classified into two categories: those for which source
organisms can be cultured or farmed, and those for which they cannot. Numerous
other practical barriers also exist, although large quantities of source materials can
theoretically be obtained through mass culturing.
Culturing marine microorganisms entails a number of difficulties. Examples
included whether strains only grow at low cell densities, whether culturing requires
high saline concentrations that can lead to corrosion in production facilities, or
whether suitable growth can only be maintained at low temperatures, resulting in
longer culturing times (and, by extension, longer production times) and a greater
230
8 Developing Functional Materials with Marine Organisms