Shanghai, March 26 (reporter Qiu Yi) looks for promising new drug lead compounds in the ocean that can be used to treat common human diseases. The reporter learned from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, that scientists have achieved initial results in the study of the chemical and biological activities of marine biologically active substances in the South China Sea. They have found a group of independent intellectual property rights that may be related to cancer, diabetes, inflammation, and even HIV. There are therapeutic lead compounds.
"The South China Sea, which is mainly located in the tropics, is rich in biodiversity and has high chemical diversity. It is a 'treasure' for drug development screening." Research team leader Guo Yuewei told reporters, "We have screened 1,000 A variety of marine natural compounds have been found in which dozens of active lead compounds have been confirmed and patented."
Recently, as an important project for research and development of marine drugs, Guo Yuewei led the research team and Italian scientists jointly completed an international cooperation project “Discovery and Structural Optimization of Lead Active Compounds in Marine Organisms in Chinaâ€. acceptance. In the past two years, researchers have collected a variety of invertebrates as main research objects from the depths of 30 meters to 70 meters in the ocean. From these marine organisms, a variety of new drug lead compounds have been targeted for type 2 diabetes. And lung cancer, liver cancer, leukemia and other tumor cells have inhibitory effects.
Guo Yuewei said that through the safety evaluation and evaluation of drug efficacy, the probability of becoming an active compound of a new drug will be about one ten-thousandth. At present, research and development of marine drugs in the South China Sea are still in the initial stage of screening. (Finish)