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The Last Resource
Potential marine drugs are not restricted to those Which are
swallowed or spread on the skin and directed against disease—causing
microbes. Since scientists worked out the chemical structure of
heparin—a chemical which prevents blood from clotting—a new
use
as
anti—coagulants has become apparent for some seaweed
extracts such as lammarin sulphate. Lammarin sulphate injected
into dogs has been found to be about a third as potent as heparin
which is normally prepared from lung or liver tissues. Other related
algal extracts have also been shown to prevent blood clots from
forming . . . and so the list of uses continues to grow.
The sea, it seems, is a virtually untapped source of potentially
useful medicines and several groups of scientists in various parts of
the world including the USA, the UK, japan and Canada, are
systematically searching for them. Some groups have devised ‘mini’
labs which can be taken to areas of scientic interest. Some scientists
take advantage of every possible marine cruise or expedition to
collect material, while others at central laboratories investigate
specimens sent from collectors in different parts of the world. In
this respect, the search for drugs is becoming very like that involved
with terrestrial organisms. These systems have all produced results
——Paul Burkholder came across the natural source of chloromycetin,
for example, in a soil sample from Venezuela. There is plenty to
choose from in the spectrum of living things haunting the oceans
and, if the marine search follows the pattern of discovery on the
land, there will be little cause for complaint.
The Last Resource
Potential marine drugs are not restricted to those Which are
swallowed or spread on the skin and directed against disease—causing
microbes. Since scientists worked out the chemical structure of
heparin—a chemical which prevents blood from clotting—a new
use
as
anti—coagulants has become apparent for some seaweed
extracts such as lammarin sulphate. Lammarin sulphate injected
into dogs has been found to be about a third as potent as heparin
which is normally prepared from lung or liver tissues. Other related
algal extracts have also been shown to prevent blood clots from
forming . . . and so the list of uses continues to grow.
The sea, it seems, is a virtually untapped source of potentially
useful medicines and several groups of scientists in various parts of
the world including the USA, the UK, japan and Canada, are
systematically searching for them. Some groups have devised ‘mini’
labs which can be taken to areas of scientic interest. Some scientists
take advantage of every possible marine cruise or expedition to
collect material, while others at central laboratories investigate
specimens sent from collectors in different parts of the world. In
this respect, the search for drugs is becoming very like that involved
with terrestrial organisms. These systems have all produced results
——Paul Burkholder came across the natural source of chloromycetin,
for example, in a soil sample from Venezuela. There is plenty to
choose from in the spectrum of living things haunting the oceans
and, if the marine search follows the pattern of discovery on the
land, there will be little cause for complaint.