Marine biotechnology group
Bioactive molecule
discovery
"From
the ocean to the lab to industry"
The quest for new
pharmaceutical and agrichemical candidates from the marine
environment is an exciting area of research conducted by
the bioactive molecule team.
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Almost half of the world’s
drugs come from nature but none are derived from the
sea, one of the richest chemical environments on
earth.
The
Bioactive Molecule team is playing a major role in the
global effort to change that and has discovered marine
organisms that contain chemicals that may help in the
fight against cancer and other diseases.
The
quest for chemicals suitable for herbicides,
insecticides and fungicides that are kind on the
environment is a major research focus. This team
continues to build on the Institute’s comprehensive
collection of chemical extracts from marine organisms. |
 Bioactive molecule
discovery team
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Our Team
The AIMS Bioactive Molecule team is multi-disciplinary, and
includes marine biologists, biochemists, marine microbiologists,
natural products chemists, pharmacologists, and information
technicians.
They collect samples from the marine environment all around
Australia, back at the laboratory headquarters near Townsville,
make small chemical extracts of each sample. These extracts are
then investigated in experiments designed to identify chemical
compounds that show an effective response. The extracts are then
chemically analysed, to purify the compound responsible for a
certain activity and identify its chemical structure. Suitable
product candidates are then passed onto industry collaborators for
further development.
Bio Resource
Library
AIMS
possesses one of the world’s largest publicly owned
collections of biotic extracts for bioactive chemical
discovery, including material from around 20,000 marine
macroscopic and microscopic organisms from around Australia.
The Bioactive molecule team uses samples from this library
to identify novel chemicals of interest, and continues to
expand the collection.
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Hundreds of marine organisms are screened for new
biologically
active medical components.
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New
Drugs From The Sea
This
group believes there are chemicals locked in the ocean floor
that have the potential to be as successful as penicillin
and is tapping into a previously unexplored resource of
chemicals in Australia’s marine environment to find
antibiotic drug candidates. They have discovered hundreds of
marine organisms that contain antibiotic chemicals that may
help to fight neglected world diseases and overcome the
increasing problem of antibiotic resistance.
Treatments
for disease rely on antibiotics but are failing due to the
growing number of drug resistant "superbugs". Many
diseases like tuberculosis and leprosy, endemic in
developing countries, remain incurable because
pharmaceutical companies deem them uneconomic.
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Natural Pesticides
The
use of fertilisers and pesticides can contribute to the
degradation of coastal marine ecosystems. Much of this
group’s research effort is directed towards finding
natural chemicals with potential for development as crop
protection agents. It is this group’s ambition to
formulate insecticides, fungicides and herbicides that are
kind on both the marine and terrestrial environment.
The team has
discovered more than 170 leads that have demonstrated
herbicidal activity. Two of the chemicals have entered
synthesis programs.
World Leaders
AIMS is a world
leader in the field of marine bio-discovery research – the quest
for new drugs and other products derived from nature. This team is
playing a key role in the global race to find new treatments and
alternatives in the fight against cancer. Research is being
conducted on two chemicals with anti-tumour activity and which are
at the pre-clinical stages of drug development.
World class biotech talent
Contact
Dr Lyndon
Llewellyn,
Team Leader
Telephone: (07) 4753 4449
Facsimile: (07) 4772 5852
Email: l.llewellyn@aims.gov.au
March 10, 2005
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