EU Sixth Framework Programme
Cope with the Challenges and Opportunities of the 21st Century:
Integrated Basic and Applied Training
in a Success-oriented Bioprospecting
MRTN-CT-2004-512301

Welcome

There is an increasing interest of pharmaceutical industry in the natural environment as a source for new lead compounds. This interest is based on the fact that the chemical diversity of natural bioactive compounds is much higher than that of compounds synthesized by standard combinatorial chemistry. The challenge which arises, if working with bioactive compounds from natural sources, is the elucidation of the target towards which a given compound acts. In addition, natural compounds display an impressively high selectivity due to evolutionary shaping (evolutionary combinatorial chemistry). Therefore, it can be expected that the discovery of novel bioactive natural products based on a success-oriented bioprospecting will significantly contribute to innovation in the field of life science. The exploitation is of major impact on the advancement of basic science and also, economically oriented, on the advancement of bio-medicine.