Dr. Shirley A. Pomponi
President and CEO, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
The Oceans and Human Health: The Discovery and Development of Marine-Derived Drugs
The oceans are a rich source of both biological and chemical diversity. During the past two decades, thousands of novel marine-derived biochemicals have been identified. Many have the potential for development as new pharmaceuticals to treat diseases such as cancer and drug-resistant infections. The challenges facing continued discovery are both technical, such as developing new tools to explore habitats and collect and test organisms never before studied, as well as political, such as complying with regulations related to the rights of a country to its natural resources. Successful discovery and development of marine derived pharmaceuticals will depend on our ability to address a number of questions. What organism produces the bioactive compound, and why? Can we apply this knowledge to our rapidly increasing understanding of the human genome and human disease processes? Are there viable alternatives to harvesting for sustainable use of marine natural resources for drug development? And finally, what constitutes a fair and equitable sharing of revenues resulting from commercialization of marine resources, as mandated by the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity? Addressing these questions will require the collaboration of marine and biomedical scientists and the cooperation of industry and government.
