SAIAB Seminar Series 2021

Harnessing the metabolic potential of indigenous marine biodiversity – a multidisciplinary drug discovery pipeline

Presented by Professor Rosemary Dorrington

(DSI/NRF SARChI Professor: Marine Natural Products Research,
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rhodes University;
Honorary Research Associate of SAIAB)

Currently, natural products or their derivatives account for more than half of all new pharmaceutical drugs on the market or in clinical trials. Many of the new molecules in the drug discovery pipeline are marine natural products (MNPs), isolated from invertebrates, tunicates and their microbial communities.

The South African coastal waters sustain an exceptionally rich diversity of endemic benthic biota with the potential to provide a pharmacopeia of novel MNPs to support the development of new antimicrobials to combat emerging infectious diseases.

This lecture will focus on the development of SA/UK Antimicrobial Drug Discovery Hub, highlighting the biodiscovery pipeline from sponges on the reefs to isolated bioactive compounds and the microbes that produce them.

Click here to view the poster.