Discovering new naturally occurring compounds

ORGN 1

Jon Clardy, jon_clardy@hms.harvard.edu and Sean F. Brady, sean_brady@hms.harvard.edu. Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
The history of natural products research underlines the importance of developing new sources of natural products as new biological sources have always led to new chemotypes, new biological activities, and new insights into the way nature constructs and utilizes small molecules. Developing approaches to the discovery of new natural products remains as one of the field's major research goals. A particularly attractive source for new compounds is the large group of ‘uncultured bacteria' – the overwhelming majority of bacteria that we know only through analysis of DNA extracted directly from the environment. Cultured bacteria have been an important source of natural products, and the ability to employ genetic tools and DNA sequencing data have made all bacteria an especially attractive source. This talk will describe our recent attempts to develop a systematic approach to accessing these materials, some highlights of recent research, and some future directions.
 

Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products
8:00 AM-12:00 PM, Sunday, 26 March 2006 Georgia World Congress Center -- Georgia Ballroom 2, Oral

Division of Organic Chemistry

The 231st ACS National Meeting, Atlanta, GA, March 26-30, 2006