Science Concentrates NATURAL PRODUCTS
Study assesses compound discovery trends Compounds produced naturally Number of new natural stantially, possibly owing to growth New natural products products discovered in the number of practitioners and with novel structures by living things have long been a 100% 2,000 mainstay of drug research and fields improved scientific instrumentasuch as ecology and chemical biolotion. The number has plateaued gy. Concerns that researchers may since the 1990s. Over the total time 80 not be able to sustain the natural span, structurally unique com1,500 product discovery pipeline have mopounds have represented a decreastivated a comprehensive analysis of ing percentage of the total number 60 the history and current status of the of compounds isolated. 1,000 field and a prediction of its future The researchers note that explorprospects. ing new marine and microbial spe40 William H. Gerwick of the Unicies tends to promote the discovery versity of California, San Diego, of novel structures. They also found 500 20 Roger G. Linington of Simon Fraser that although the possible universe University, and coworkers studied of natural product structures is 52,000 microbial and marine-based high, the number of compounds dis0 0 natural products discovered becovered in each chemical class has 1941 1960 1980 2000 2015 tween 1941 and 2015 (Proc. Natl. been low, suggesting that natural Year Acad. Sci. USA 2017, DOI: 10.1073/ selection pressures limit the scope pnas.1614680114). Their analysis led compounds with unique structural and bioof structural diversity. However, them to conclude that reports of the death logical properties,” they predict. they believe significant opportunities of natural product discovery are greatly exThe study reveals that the number of remain for finding novel compounds in a aggerated. “The development of innovative natural products discovered each year was range of sources and with different discovdiscovery methods will continue to yield low in the early 1940s and then grew subery methods.—STU BORMAN
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | MAY 15, 2017
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