What are some particularly promising avenues of research and how are they being pursued?
Natural products have been particularly successful medicines against infectious disease and cancer. So there is a lot of research being carried out in pursuit of new anti-infectives and chemotherapeutic agents. Typically scientists look for such compounds in the forest (plants and trees), the soil (bacteria and fungi), and the ocean (marine creatures). Samples of various species – some more exotic than others – are collected from around the globe and brought back to the laboratory where they are carefully studied to reveal their molecular secrets. The new molecules so discovered are then tested by biologists for their possible therapeutic actions against disease. Current efforts are focused on new anticancer agents, new antibiotics particularly active against drug resistant bacteria, possible treatments of HIV/AIDS, and Alzheimer’s disease. In the press release associated with the ESF-COST conference, you made the differentiation between herbal medicine and your research. Can you elabo
